Off-Duty Mass. Cop Accused of Using Racial Slur

An off-duty Massachusetts police officer is accused of using a racial slur against Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford in Manchester, N.H..

July 26, 2012

July 26--An off-duty Massachusetts police officer accused of using a racial slur against Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford in Manchester uttered racial slurs on other occasions and should be fired, the Leominster, Mass., police chief said during a public hearing Wednesday.

Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella said after the hearing that he has until Friday to rule on a punishment for Officer John Perreault. The officer could receive anything from a five-day, unpaid suspension to termination, he said.

Mazzarella said that during the hearing, Leominster Chief Robert Healey "established, in his opinion, there was a pattern of conduct" involving the officer using racial slurs on multiple occasions.

Perreault, who is white, told Manchester police that he called Crawford, who is black, a "Monday" before a July 5 New Hampshire Fisher Cats game at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester, according to a Manchester police report.

That word also can be interpreted as derogatory towards black people.

Crawford at the time was rehabbing with the Portland Sea Dogs, a Red Sox minor league affiliate.