A decorated South Bend police officer was fired Thursday after a series of reprimands over the course of several years. Officer Christopher Bortone was named the South Bend Officer of the Year for 2006.
The Board of Public Safety terminated Bortone's employment after an internal investigation into his conduct. The investigation arose over a shoplifting incident at an area Meijer store. Bortone was called out to the store to investigate, but never filed a report of the incident.
Bortone claimed that the manager on staff had asked not to file a report. The manager says she did ask for the report, and was surprised when Bortone didn't write any of the information she gave down.
The board sited eight other incidents where Bortone received a reprimand or suspension since 2005. Bortone can still appeal the decision.
