Spokane7
60°
December 22, 2009 in City
Police sergeant in drunken hit and run fired
A police sergeant involved in a drunken hit-and-run crash in September has been fired.
Bradley N. Thoma, 44, is no longer employed by the Spokane Police Department as of Monday, the department announced today.
Thoma, a 20-year police veteran, will avoid criminal prosecution for the crash if he stays out of trouble for five years under an agreement approved in District Court in November.
But the agreement requires him to use a breathalyzer device to start his car, which Spokane police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said prohibits him from completing the duties of a police officer.
“A valid driver’s license without restrictions is essential for the job,” Kirkpatrick said in a prepared statement.
Thoma was driving his personal Dodge Ram pickup on Sept. 23 when he hit the back of Sherry L. Prickett’s Ford Ranger near the intersection of Farwell Road and U.S. Highway 2. He then drove away.
Prickett, 51, and another driver followed Thoma to the parking lot of a Yoke’s Fresh Market, where Thoma told a state trooper he’d been planning to buy steaks.
Thoma smelled strongly of alcohol, troopers said. He told them he had just golfed at Wandermere Golf Course and “knew he had hit someone’s car and not stopped to give her his information,” according to a report from the Washington State Patrol.
“He talked about how he was probably going to lose his job or at least lose his supervisory position,” the arresting officer wrote. “He also told me he knew I was just doing my job and he was sorry for putting me in the position of arresting a fellow officer.”
Under the deferred prosecution agreement, Thoma – whose blood-alcohol level was 0.171, more than twice the legal limit for driving – will basically be on probation for five years and be required to complete a rehabilitation program in the first two years.
The DUI won’t appear on his record if he completes the program. The misdemeanor hit-and-run charge was dismissed under a “misdemeanor compromise” agreement after a judge read a letter from Prickett that said she’d been paid for the damage to her vehicle and was “not interested in (pursuing) Mr. Thoma any further.”
Prickett later said she didn’t know the letter would lead to the hit-and-run charge being dismissed.
Thoma joined the Spokane Police Department in October 1989. He’s worked in the drug unit and on the SWAT team. In 1991, he was one of two officers involved in a gunfight with a fugitive that killed an innocent bystander. A jury cleared both of wrongdoing in a civil case in 1994.
In January, Thoma suffered a minor stab wound to the jaw outside a downtown Spokane restaurant in a confrontation with two men he said were harassing his fiancé, Spokane police officer Amy Ross. Charges against one of the men, Shannon Dogskin, were dismissed; another, Kenneth J. Kheel, is serving two years in prison.
Thoma made $91,141 a year as a sergeant.
Sex trafficking suspects released as probe continues 
ChefGus/ John Olsen on December 22 at 2:08 p.m.
Being fired was not a choice I’d make… I’d have resigned and then had some hope of salvaging a career. Me thinks he might have been hoping he’d be treated the same as other officers that have done things that do not pass Chief K’s five rules.
Alcohol is a very bad drug that has ruined a lot of lives. I do hope this apparently otherwise fine officer can pull his life together and get the treatment he needs and a less stressful line of work. John
MrNatural on December 22 at 2:48 p.m.
Twenty years of faithful service to the Spokane community down the drain. This punishment does not fit the crime, and yet if you stagger out of a gay bar at 2 am and shoot wildly and hit a Native American in the head in the middle of a residential neighborhood then lie to authorities about it you go free…Spokane justice is so convoluted and inequitable for its police officers…best of luck Mr. Toma
jdodgion on December 22 at 2:49 p.m.
Sounds like the punishment fits the crime, although not sure why charges were dismissed.
MrNatural on December 22 at 3:23 p.m.
Do you really think that this crime (DUI-hit and run no injury) is cause to take away a man’s career and livelihood after 20 years of service?…it seems to me by your way of thinking that any career GI who would get into similar trouble should be discharged lose his benefits and have his medals taken away…I guess I’m a bit more empathetic would take his prior service into consideration and would give him a chance for recovery…maybe there’s more to this than I know but that’s my opinion
BEKSPOKANE on December 22 at 4:02 p.m.
Mr. Natural, the fate of the “gay bar” officer you’re talking about was not offered his job back, nor was he exonerated by the police department. He underwent a Constitutionally mandated procedure known as a jury trial. A jury of ordinary citizens are the ones who decided that he was not guilty, not the department or the city or the county. In this case, the officer in question cannot perform his duties (driving) and therefore it would be a complete waste of taxpayer dollars to keep him on payroll. He was given the choice to take a demotion (completely fair, considering he hit a vehicle and drove away) and some time away, or be fired. It was his choice to be fired and he has to live with his actions and their consequences. He should have valued his job enough not to get behind the wheel after slamming a twelve pack.
THEBONES on December 22 at 6:25 p.m.
its about time WE THE PEOPLE finally get some justice in this town. thats one more dirty cop off the streets. and for those of you who think this man had a sparkling record of service all those years. never got stopped by this man, and watched him break about every civil right your given by law. just to make and arrest or to hand out a ticket for a law you didnt break. and how many times was he and his PARTNERS IN CRIME drunk on the job joy riding around in those nice cars we pay for, violating YOUR RIGHTS?
THEBONES on December 22 at 6:35 p.m.
and the charges were dropped because his lawyer lied to the plaintif about what she was signing when she was handed the paper work , just hours before he appeared before AN OUT OF COUNTY judge, if you read the prior news about the out come of his judgement that is a criminal offence in and of itself.
he and his lawyer should be doing time just like the rest of us that would have fled the scene drunk and then lied to the plaintif about what she was signing. Frankly the woman who was violated by this man and his lawyer should file a law suit against the state for as much as she can get. and everybody should look up your constitutional right to defend yourself and your family by joining your local militia. its up to you to stop crime, not a (what is suppost to be) a public police force. Dont call the police, take a fire arms course, buy a gun, and stop crime when you see it happening. and stop paying for criminals to show up drunk and high 3 to 5 mins, after the fact.
lewis8457 on December 22 at 6:37 p.m.
This was a good call by Kirkpatrick she is right he cannot do his job if he cannot drive a car with out a Breathalyzer attached to it, which would be a major liability to the city.
Police officers have to be held to the standards any normal person may have to bear in the same circumstances, or it is a double standard, which we have had in this town far too long.
Well if he didn’t have enough of a reason to drink before he sure has one now, bottoms up!
westside on December 22 at 7:34 p.m.
$91,000 a year…and these cops are rank and file…what do the Lieut. and Captains make? Yup $100,000! And the chief? $140,000!! Just wait, this looser will file a 2 mil lawsuit against the city of Spokane..and win!! Verners finest!!
JimF on December 22 at 8:00 p.m.
CSSP-Fuschia is that you? I retired and have never been charged with a crime, how about you?
drinkr23 on December 22 at 8:12 p.m.
It’s about time…he should have been fired right away…If I was drunk (2x the legal limit) hit someone and then took off, driving all over the road…I’d still be in jail..probably lose my job, and have a huge lawyer’s bill to pay!
PlanB on December 22 at 8:13 p.m.
Excellent decision by Chief Kirkpatrick, but I’m sure the police guild will be having a conniption or expecting something in return. Too bad the court system failed the citizens (again).
THEBONES on December 22 at 9:07 p.m.
PlanB , although i totally agree with you, the modern court system is not designed for justice. it is designed to make money. and its soul purpose is to create criminals as to benefit from there misfortune, and create a budget from that. to then pay for more enforcement. there is a plan in the works. and you as a citizen are not a part of it. soon you will not see “YOUR friendly neighborhood sherriff” (tipping his hat and saying hello). but a gang of well armed stormtrooper clad police. they will say “its because our job is hard, or we see the worst in humanity on a daily basis”. 1% of that may be true. but from the training i have received and the courses i have sat through. these men are trained daily that you as a citizen are not equal but need to be contained and controlled. soon history will repeat itself. and as we have seen oppressive government controll of the people will always fail. these men are not your freinds and they are trained the same way. so dont rely on your court system. go buy a gun and join your local militia. and learn to defend yourself and your family and property. as the constitution states you should.
Ed Byrnes on December 22 at 10:38 p.m.
Chief Kirkpatrick made the right decision since this officer could no longer fulfill his duties. Although the prosecuting attorney failed us, the citizens of Spokane, in this case Chief Kirkpatrick earned our trust through the way she handled this case.
I agree that alcohol is a tragic and dangerous drug. I urge everyone to support upcoming legislation that would legalize the personal possession of small amounts of marijuana in the State of Washington. Encourage your representative to at least give this bill the debate it deserves.
As for dealing with the police, exercise your rights:
1. When asked to allow a search of your person, home or vehicle state “I do not consent to searches;”
2. When interacting with the police, if you want to end the interaction ask them “Am I being detained or am I free to go?” If you are free to go then do just that;
3. If a police officer tells you that you are being detained tell them “I am exercising my right to not answer your questions” and request that a lawyer be present if they persist in questioning you.
Although Chief Kirkpatrick can lead through making sound decisions like the one concerning Sgt. Thoma an assertively informed citizenry is also necessary to preserve our civil rights against police abuses.
arroyoribera on December 22 at 11:26 p.m.
The SPD brings us so many stories like this.
I am looking for help in updating my blog, SpokanePoliceAbuses.wordpress.org
I have been unable to keep it up for more than a year just due to the pressing business of life and other issues of importance in the world beyond Spokane and the SPD.
I was unfamiliar with this officer’s story until a friend just informed me.
Anyone with links to media stories, internet videos, or other material about the SPD from the last couple years (or really any stories), please feel free to send it to me at spokanepoliceabuses@gmail.com
If you have personal stories as well, feel free to send them.
That way we can continue to make it clear that the SPD works for us, even if they don’t always act as if they do and even if many, many, many of us know that they don’t in fact.
And just one comment about the tragedy of the 4 officers murdered in the Tacoma area a few weeks ago. Apparently there were some controversial comments written by some folks about the 30,000 strong contingent of officers who attended the funeral. It should be said that the day that a 30,000 strong contingent of officers attends the funeral of a wrongly killed man like Otto Zehm (or any number of others around this town and the country) and shows the collective humility to admit that they are human and that those in their ranks are not perfect and to show their compassion for those of US wrongly killed in the line of THEIR duty, we will have come a long, long, long way towards healing the gulf that exists between us and those who set themselves apart from us in their job of “protecting” us. Until that gap is breached, “protecting will always be written in quotation marks and spoken with a certain trepidation in the voice.
arroyoribera on December 22 at 11:27 p.m.
Sorry, failed to sign that last one.
David Brookbank
Roger__Young on December 23 at 4:02 a.m.
Brookbank 10 pts. JimF 0 The score hasn’t changed. Next we bring in Frank Sennett to comment.
lewis8457 on December 23 at 9:14 a.m.
i was wondering about the JimF comment myself. this exact comment was posted on another thread. Jim your not playing childish games are you?
don’t ruin your nice retirement by being a bully JimF just let it go you got your 100 grand a year retirement. move to someplace safe like Seattle, we all know how much they love cops there, take Thoma with you.
Hi David good to see you comment. the cops will never understand why they can not murder the private sector. we are not human to them we are expendable. Until they want more money.
THEBONES on December 23 at 10:38 a.m.
JimF just never got caught, or video taped while he was on the job. i agree take your retirement and be happy you didnt lose your job too, during all the (im sure many) times you violated someones personal and civil rights.
JOIN YOUR LOCAL MILITIA and uphold you and your families rights to personal protection and freedom. (2nd amndmt)
mdriftmeyer on December 23 at 10:53 p.m.
Mr Natural wrote: “Do you really think that this crime (DUI-hit and run no injury) is cause to take away a man’s career and livelihood after 20 years of service?…”
Are you serious with this line of reasoning?
I tell you what. Go duplicate the actions of this criminal and plead that logic to the Judge as your life legally goes into the toilet.
soundbarrier on December 27 at 2:50 p.m.
Mr. Natural wrote “Twenty years of faithful service to the Spokane community down the drain. This punishment does not fit the crime, ”
Mr. Natural, Mr. Thoma should be in jail like the rest of the drunk drivers, hit-and-run accidents or not! The punishment of being fired is the minimum that should happen. You’re right, the punishment does not fit the crime because it is TOO LENIENT. The guy was a cop FGS!!!
miia on December 27 at 5:23 p.m.
I will stand by what I have stated in the past all cops are corrupt!
Now this bozo is claiming disability, what a joke. But as we all know there are two sets of rules, one for cops and family and another set of rules for regular people
Jholcomb on December 28 at 2:43 p.m.
I’d like to preface my comments with this: I am a police officer and know Brad Thoma well. That said, I ABSOLUTLY agree with Chief Kirkpatrick’s decision to fire him! Mr. Thoma committed two crimes, DUI and hit and run and plead guilty under a plea agreement. He was a fool for declining the offer made to him by Chief Kirkpatrick, whereas he was eligible to retain his job and be demoted to detective if he completes the court required program. Personally, he didn’t even deserve that deal, but he was stupid to turn it down. For him to sue for 4 million dollars is ridiculous and shows no responsibility for his own actions. Brad, man up an take responsibility for your actions.
I have been a police officer for 19 plus years and its because of officers like Thoma that we, as law enforcement, keep getting black eyes. His termination was well deserved and based on his own actions, to bad he can’t accept that or take responsibility. For him to claim he is an alcoholic, therefore disabled, is pathetic and he should be ashamed of himself. For his attorney, Bob Dunn, to compare his termination to someone with cancer is even more despicibable and pathetic. Brad, I hate to see any officer lose their job, but I hate to see officers do things that cause the public to district us and lose faith in us. We are always getting beat up in the media and public perception and you are the reason why. Your actions both during your DUI hit and run and now the lawsuit are an embarrassment to yourself and law enforcement. Frankly, I question your claim as to now being an alcoholic, how convenient of a reason to come up with. We don’t want you back.
VM on December 28 at 3:34 p.m.
I take issue with the implied “taxpayer savings” associated with Chief Kirkpatrick’s decision according to the previous article. According to the WA DOL website, there is a waiver for the employer to sign allowing for work vehicles to be driven without the interlock system while working. So there would be no additional cost to the city to allow Sgt. Thoma to continue his employment. I wonder if that “taxpayer” cost would have exceeded the possible $4 million judgement?!
arroyoribera on December 30 at 6:44 p.m.
Why do we deceive ourselves about the Spokane Police Department? Remember another drinking driver, Jason Uberuaga? He is the (still) SPD officer and (then) member of a federal task force who probably managed to slide on a possible sex offense (Feb 9, 2009 S-R “used his department-issued cell phone to photograph a woman baring her breasts, then had sex with her in his patrol car in a tavern parking lot”), as well as driving in an official vehicle while under the influence (despite being “off duty”), was eventually fired, and then, despite Chief Kirkpatrick’s best southern schuck and jive, managed — like a magician slipping out of a pair of ziptie cuffs — to get his job back (Feb 10, 2009 S-R: “Fired Officer Gets Job Back). Of course, Doug Clark nailed the whole game in his Feb 12, 2009 S-R: “Sleazy deeds pay amply for city cop”. And of course, Uberuaga was reinstated after a decision by a union arbitrator who decided that Uberuaga (who along with Officer Dan Torok and 5 other officers — one now under indictment — killed Otto Zehm a few years before Uberuaga’s drinking and sexing episode) should again prowl Spokane’s streets.
So many questions, so little time but here are a few of them:
1) What ever happened to former Officer and slum lord Jay Olsen’s (yes, the same guy who shot Shonto Pete in the head) drug house at 112 W. Montomery Ave. (see reference to the “drug house” in S-R Feb 26, 2007 “Veteran officer involved in shooting”. For some reason the original article S-R Sept 25, 2005 article no longer appears in the S-R list of articles on Olsen at http://www.spokesman.com/tags/jay-olsen/ )
2) What ever happened to the $8800 report commissioned by Mayor Hession for Chief Kirkpatrick’s friend, former Meridian, ID police chief Mike Worley (now owner of Kentucky-based Police Practices Consulting)? Worley was to invesigate the SPD Firehouse Sex Scandal, the Civilian Advisory Commission, and the Zehm killing and did issue an incomplete preliminary report in August 2006. Worley said in the 10/26/06 Spokesman that “A subsequent report will be released addressing the Zehm case when all investigative materials have been completed and reviewed.” Anyone know what happened to that followup report. What is the status of the contract and the $8800 taxpayer investment. A question for Mr. Shogun and company, perhaps?
3) And speaking of the SPD scandals and the Civilian Advisory Commission, is there anything new on Carmela LeBlanc the member of the commission forced to leave the commission due to her involvement in the case of Marwan Abdullah Nasser?
(Search Googe for carmela leblanc nasser and then read the US District Court document and the S-R article.)
Thanks to the Spokesman-Review for keeping the news coming fast and furious…
David Brookbank