Columbus Dispatch
GAHANNA, Ohio — A Gahanna police officer caught driving 149 mph while off duty has his job back, but he won’t be patrolling the streets for a while, Deputy Chief Kenneth Bell said.
Gahanna fired Officer Christopher Thomas, 34, in August, citing conduct unbecoming, immoral conduct, abuse of position and failure to conform to laws.
But a federal mediator ruled last week that speeding is not inherently immoral and that there was not enough proof that Thomas abused his position to get out of a speeding ticket. A state trooper issued Thomas a ticket eight days after the traffic stop -- and after the delay was questioned up the patrol’s chain of command.
Although the written decision didn’t dispute two of the city’s claims, the mediator said the firing was invalid because the city based the termination on all four charges.
“We didn’t hire him back, but the arbitrator told us he’s coming back,” Bell said. “It’s binding arbitration, and we have to live by it.”
The Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9 backed Thomas, arguing that the city did not have just cause to fire him.
“All they fired him for was speeding,” said Jim Gilbert, union president. “Based on an infraction that any common citizen could get, they fired him.”
The state patrol ticketed Thomas and a trooper for riding their motorcycles at more than twice the legal speed of 65 mph on I-70 near Buckeye Lake.
The patrol gave Trooper Jason E. Highsmith, 35, a five-day unpaid suspension and reassigned him to a different unit. Firing had been recommended, but the union negotiated to keep the trooper’s job.
Trooper Bryan D. Lee, 26, of the Granville post received a one-day unpaid suspension. He didn’t write the tickets until supervisors later requested it, and he turned his microphone off in the middle of the traffic stop after he and Highsmith recognized each other and began chatting.
Gahanna dismissed Thomas with a letter that said his actions showed “complete disregard for the law and public safety.”
“Traveling at such an extraordinary speed flouts the laws that a police officer is sworn to enforce. You placed in immediate danger the lives of innocent people traveling on the highway, as well as your own,” the letter stated.
Although Thomas is back on the police department payroll, Bell said the officer is still on injury leave for an on-the-job slip and fall on ice in 2008. Bell said he has no idea when Thomas will be back in action.
The mediator’s decision allows the city to suspend Thomas for 90 days, which a city news release said will begin whenever he comes off injury leave.
Copyright 2010 Columbus Dispatch