Five police officers under investigation for allegedly sharing racist text messages have resigned from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) in North Carolina, a police spokesperson confirmed to ABC News on Monday.
A sixth officer allegedly involved in this matter resigned in August amid a separate probe, while a seventh officer remains suspended without pay pending a Civil Service Board review, the spokesperson said.
The resignation of the first three officers was announced on Thursday by CMPD Police Chief Estella Patterson during a press conference. Since then, two additional officers have resigned.
“The allegations against them are serious,” Patterson said at Thursday’s news conference. “They’re deeply troubling. And frankly, I’m disappointed that we’re even having to talk about this today.”
The messages, which contained racial slurs, were found during an investigation into alleged Flock camera misuse by former CMPD officer Seth Elliot, according to ABC affiliate in Charlotte, WSCO. It is unclear if Elliot has entered a plea in the Flock camera case.
CMPD released the names of a total of seven officers being investigated in a press release on Monday and confirmed that Elliot, who resigned from CMPD in August, is the seventh officer allegedly involved in this matter.
Elliot’s defense attorney, George V. Laughrun II, didn’t immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
The five other officers, who were all suspected without pay on Oct. 9 before resigning, were identified as Mateo Juarez, Joseph Kelly, Alexander Larsen, Tredan Maronic and Matthew Osborn. The sixth, Jeremiah Todman, remains suspended without pay pending further investigation, police said.
It’s unclear if the other five former officers have retained attorneys in this case. None of them immediately responded to ABC News’ requests for comment, nor did Todman.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #9, the union that represents CMPD officers, didn’t immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
In a statement releasing the officer’s names, CMPD highlighted “the importance of transparency and public access to information in maintaining public trust.”
“The department remains committed to accountability and providing access to public records in accordance with the law, while respecting the integrity of any ongoing investigations and potential legal proceedings,” it wrote.
Patterson said on Thursday that, after discovering the text messages, the department launched an investigation into the officers actions and has requested assistance from federal agencies to examine the “possibility of civil rights violations.”
“We immediately conducted audits of their body worn footage, we reviewed their traffic stops, their traffic stop datas, we looked at their arrest records, and we looked to see if any of those officers had external complaints,” she said. “As of this point, we have not found any evidence of this, but I have asked our federal partners to look at the possibility of civil rights violations.”
Patterson also said that, if the investigation determines wrongdoing by the officers, her department will seek to revoke the North Carolina law enforcement certificates of the officers involved in this case so that they cannot be an officer anywhere in our state.
“And I hope that they will not be an officer anywhere in this country,” she added.
ABC News’ Sabina Ghebremedhin and Tesfaye Negussie contributed to this report.
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