Orange County Firefighters, Chief Reprimanded In Disney Tix Resale

Two Orange County firefighter and a battalion chief are in hot water, as they are accused of reselling the Walt Disney World tickets given to first responders in the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting.

Disney had given four tickets to each Fire Rescue first responder after the June, 2016, mass shooting at Pulse nightclub, where 49 were killed and more than 68 others were injured. 

Firefighters Christopher Huntley and Glenn Kiture sold five of their complimentary - not for resale - passes in March through mobile app "OfferUp" for nearly $400.

According to records, Huntley told the woman who bought the tickets to falsely tell Disney she was his cousin and that he gave , not sold, her the tickets. Huntley allegedly denied this, but was later confronted with print outs of his messages to the woman as proof. 

The woman, however, was denied entry to the park, and when Huntley stopped communicating with her, she filed a complaint. Huntley later reimbursed her. 

On March 31, Kiture allegedly asked Battalion Chief Darion Butler hypothetical questions “to illicit a response on both if [he] gave the tickets away or sold them, what could possibly happen.” 

But Assistant Chief Lauraleigh Avery wrote in a disciplinary letter that Butler didn’t tell his boss.

“By failing to recognize the issue while on duty you also failed to move the issue up to your chain of command,” Avery wrote.

Butler also used Huntley’s phone in his presence to call the woman who bought the tickets, claiming to be a Walt Disney World employee, according to records:

“Hi, this is Brett Harris with Walt Disney World Resorts and theme parks and I would like to find out your experience you had with Disney and if there was any problems with your tickets,” Butler told the woman. “If you would please try to contact Walt Disney World again and we will try to accommodate you again. Thank you. Have a great day.”

Butler later told Fire Rescue officials that it was a joke, which Avery said was “not an acceptable explanation.”

Huntley was been suspended without pay for 72 hours (equal to six days of work based on his schedule). Kitture was suspended without for for 24 hours and ordered to take an ethical decision-making class throughout the county. Butler was suspended without pay for 72 hours and ordered to take classes on workplace professionalism and emotional intelligence.


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