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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Police Officer Placed Back On Paid Leave Move Follows Confrontation With Deputy Chief; Sergeant Had Been On Disability For Seven Years

Gita Sitaramiah Bonnie Harris Contrib Staff writer

A Spokane police sergeant who was on stress-related disability for seven years before getting his job back in 1991 is back on paid leave after a confrontation with a deputy chief.

Sgt. Bob Henry, 51, was placed on paid administrative leave May 8 to review whether he suffers from “a prior medical condition we’re reevaluating,” said Police Chief Terry Mangan.

Mangan refused to discuss the medical condition.

Police sources said Henry was put on leave after making threats to a highranking department administrator because he hadn’t been promoted. Henry is no longer allowed in secured areas of police headquarters, sources said.

Mangan said Henry became upset during a meeting with Deputy Chief Larry Hersom but denied that Henry had made threats. A telephone call to Hersom was not returned.

“As you know, Sgt. Henry is a somewhat volatile guy,” Mangan said. “He’s a pretty strong personality.”

Efforts to reach Henry on Tuesday were unsuccessful.

Henry has had a colorful history in the department and the community.

He was suspended for 60 days without pay in 1979 for getting into a brawl with another off-duty officer at the Maxwell House Tavern. The other officer was fired.

Henry left the force in 1984 after he was diagnosed with depression caused by stress.

He said part of the stress stemmed from a 1980 incident in which he accidentally shot a 14-year-old boy. The case led to a settlement of nearly $150,000 against the city.

Henry won stress-related disability retirement in 1984 but was reinstated to the department in 1991.

He got his job back after the city’s Police Relief and Pension Board reinstated him. The board initially had voted against reinstatement.

That decision was overturned by a state assistant director for retirement, who said Henry had recovered sufficiently to return to work. The decision forced the local board to reinstate Henry.

In October 1987, Henry was lost in woods south of Superior, Mont., for two days without food during a hunting trip. Searchers were dispatched to find him.

Henry found his way out of the woods but couldn’t make it back to Spokane in time for his daughter’s wedding.

While working nights as a police officer, Henry graduated from college and eventually the Gonzaga University Law School in 1976.

While he was off the force during the 1980s, Henry worked as a lawyer in private practice specializing in divorce, personal injury and water rights.

The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Gita Sitaramiah Staff writer Staff writer Bonnie Harris contributed to this report.