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September 26, 2009 in City
Doug Clark: Latest scandal is deja blue
What? Not another Spokane Police Department scandal.
It’s deja blue all over again.
Our latest episode involves an SPD sergeant, Bradley N. Thoma. The veteran officer was arrested last week for drunken driving. Hit-and-run charges may follow.
Thoma has been put on a paid administrative leave, which is a sweet deal considering that Thoma rakes in $91K and change a year.
Oh, well. Look at the bright side.
No innocent mentally ill janitors died after being clubbed, shocked and hogtied by Genghis Cop.
No off-duty gunplay was involved as in Jay Olsen’s boozy rundown and shooting of Shonto Pete.
No down and handcuffed suspects were kicked in the face. Allegedly.
From what I gather reading the paper, Thoma was “cited and released for misdemeanor DUI following a hit-and-run crash” that occurred Wednesday on the Newport Highway and …
Oh, brother. I’ve written so many columns about local cops acting out that I think I can now predict how the ensuing Thoma case will unfold. Such as:
• Assistant Police Chief Jim Nicks holds a press conference to claim Thoma acted in self-defense. He only plowed into the stopped Ford Ranger after the vehicle’s plastic taillights lunged at him.
• Asked where he got his information, Nicks said he can’t remember, but it might have appeared on a blog.
• Assistant Spokane City Attorney Rocky Treppiedi interrupts a prepping and debriefing session with Thoma to vehemently deny he’s been prepping and debriefing the accused officer.
• Hoping to raise funds for Thoma’s legal bills, Spokane Police Guild members offer “Team Thoma” shot glasses to the public for $20 each.
• I head to the Cue11 studios with Joe Brasch to record a parody song about the Thoma case.
• After much giggling we settle on “Brad to the Bone”
• A reporter asks Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker what he thinks of his chances of convicting Thoma. Tucker shows the reporter his new 9-iron.
• A turning point in the Thoma trial comes on day two. The defense calls in a highway department official to analyze traffic patterns at the intersection of the Newport Highway and Farwell Road •Six hours later, the judge and all jurors are sound asleep.
• Thoma is cleared on all charges on day three. Police officers packing the courtroom jump out of their seats at the verdict and pump their fists and begin performing a spirited rendition of YMCA.
• Several hours later, a forlorn-looking Spokane police chief is spotted speeding out town with suitcases piled in her backseat and a U-Haul trailer hitched to her car.
Doug Clark is a columnist for The Spokesman-Review. He can be reached at (509) 459-5432 or by e-mail at dougc@spokesman.com.
Recent stories by Doug Clark
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- Professor’s ‘Motel’ mystery needs you to solve it May 22, 2012
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westside on September 26 at 8:45 p.m.
Nice piece, Doug!. “Boss Hawgs ” Spokane County is alive and kicking!!
ChefGus/ John Olsen on September 26 at 9:32 p.m.
Do you wonder as I do…if… if… Mayor Mary and Chief Kirkpatrick even bother to read your column… I’ll be sending it to them in the morning to make sure that there is no excuse for their excuses…. makes me .. and others in our community absolutely crazy…. donde esta los cajone’s …… donde esta…. makes one want to move to Billings…. john
Ron_the_Cop on September 26 at 10:17 p.m.
Good for you ChefGus. Sometimes I wonder if they can distinguish the real problems from the trivial.
misjustice on September 26 at 10:39 p.m.
So this officer has already been convicted by the news media. Yes, he probably did do everything that was said, but I get pretty sick of people slamming the police officers at every chance they get. You see, there’s nothing said about the officers that arrested a fellow officer. Doing their jobs as they should be.
There are bad apples in every profession but this paper seems to jump on the police at any hint of irregularities. What about all the crap that goes on in other parts of this city?
Wake up people! Where would this city (or this nation) be if not for the men & women that police it? You all need to grow up!!!!!!!!
Rifleman_Dodd on September 26 at 11:01 p.m.
Obama holds press conference announcing the arrest of two local terrorists: Bin Drinken and Bin Driven, .
garfnagn on September 27 at 7:31 a.m.
garfnagn on September 24 at 6:35 a.m.
Ms. Prickett’s pickup lunged at Sgt. Thoma’s.
Rifleman_Dodd on September 24 at 9:19 a.m.
OMG
Voted BEST posting of the day.
garfnagn on September 24 at 6:35 a.m.
Ms. Prickett’s pickup lunged at Sgt. Thoma’s.
How come I hear the theme song of Dukes of Hazzard in the background?
––––––––––––––––––––––––
“He only plowed into the stopped Ford Ranger after the vehicle’s plastic taillights lunged at him”
Wow Doug. Stealing lines from S-R online commenters. I think I left that one the day the incident was reported. Make sure you cite me next time otherwise it’s bordering on plagiarism. And we know what a fine upholder of newspaper ethics you are. Oh wait, Doug did change the line minimally keeping the concept but changing just a bit so he could technically weasel out of a plagiarism charge.
That’s bush league stealing lines from online comments. Too funny. Time to dust off that AARP card, Clark.
terrymr on September 27 at 10:00 a.m.
Gramma,
This is not a very big department - it seems to have more than its share of irregularities. Maybe there are just a few bad apples, but all the good ones show up as cheerleaders for the bad guys too. By not throwing the bad guys to the wolves the good ones appear just as bad.
Francine1950 on September 27 at 1:06 p.m.
Great story, Doug. As always you crack me up. Thank goodness everyone is human and makes mistakes. Without that aspect, there wouldn’t be much fodder for the newspaper, would there? Brad to the Bone, too funny. And the beat goes on………and on and on, never ending! Keep up the good work, you are the only reason I subscribe to this pitiful newspaper.
dkerns on September 27 at 9:42 p.m.
Gramma—Are you implying that this drinking cop was arrested? I missed that part somehow.
Also, what is the difference between a misdemeanor DUI and a felony DUI (except for the badge)?
Just wondering.
garfnagn on September 28 at 6:23 a.m.
And Clark knew exactly what he was doing as he was ripping me off … googling my name and visiting my blog (which is copyright licensed) to see if I’d published it there (I hadn’t). Here is his hit on my blog:
IP Address 216.229.189.24 [Label IP Address]
Country United States
Region Washington
City Spokane
ISP Cowles Publishing
Returning Visits 2
Visit Length 2 hours 6 mins 5 secs
VISITOR SYSTEM SPECS
Browser MSIE 7.0
Operating System Windows XP
Resolution 1600x1200
Javascript Enabled
I expect an apology in writing or a cool t-shirt. Nobody rides for free.
jenny on November 01 at 2:03 a.m.
Good writing Doug. You are very observant and the bully policemen need to start taking their jobs serious and it should be explained to them time and again that they are supposed to serve and protect the citizens. Drinking on the job should be grounds for dismissal, not administrative leave. Lets hope justice can prevail at least this one time.