Good riddance

Gahanna, Ohio police officer Christopher Thomas, the buffoon whose saga we've been following closely, was fired by his department on August 24, the reason being given that "'intentional violation of the law and disregard for public safety is evidence that you are not suited to be a police officer.'"

Since he was clocked doing 149 mph on his motorcycle while being still on paid medical leave for a supposed on-the-job injury last December, we can certainly agree with the reasoning for his dismissal.

Naturally, it appears that he's not going to go quietly into the good night:

"Jim Gilbert, head of the local FOP, said Thomas is trying to decide whether to file a civil lawsuit against the city or file a grievance through the union, which would result in arbitration."

Thomas is probably just upset that his high-speed riding compadre, Ohio State Trooper Jason Highsmith, only received a five-day unpaid suspension from his agency as punishment for acting in a similar fashion, again due to union involvement:

"'Termination was recommended, but we came to an agreement with the union,' said Lt. Tony Bradshaw, a patrol spokesman."

Once again, the police unions seem to have never come across a lawbreaking or incompetent cop that they won't go to bat for, no matter how egregious the behavior.

At least Highsmith will no longer be on motorcycle patrol; he's been transferred to a car unit in another district, where he presumably won't have deal with the laughably obvious hypocrisy of having him pulling over and ticketing motorists for speeding on the exact same stretch of highway where he himself so cavalierly and spectacularly flouted the limit.

We are pleased to note in all of this, however, that at least one person in the Gahanna Police Department appears to be a stand-up individual:

"[Gahanna Safety Director Robert] Keyes revealed in his letter that, three days after the speeding stop, a patrol captain told Gahanna Deputy Chief Ken Bell that the patrol planned to cite Highsmith but not Thomas.

'The deputy chief indicated to the captain his strong preference that you also be cited for your speeding offense," Keyes wrote Thomas.'"

Sincere thanks, Chief Bell, for making sure that one of your officers didn't get a free pass from having to answer for his blatant lawbreaking just because of what he (nominally) did for a living.