Guilty as charged

In an update to a story we previously commented on, Gahanna, Ohio police officer Christopher Thomas has pleaded guilty to a charge of speeding (to say the least!) after being caught riding his motorcycle at speeds of up to 149 mph. We remind everyone that "Officer" Thomas didn't receive a ticket for his violation until eight days after the incident, after news of the daring exploits of both Thomas and his fellow law-enforcement scofflaw (Ohio State Police Trooper Jason Highsmith, who was nailed for doing 147 mph), as well as their subsequent non-ticketing by another OSP trooper, hit the media.

Judge W. David Branstool fined Thomas $150 and suspended his license for six months. This very mild penalty for such an egregious violation shouldn't negatively affect Thomas's ability to do his job, since he's still on paid medical leave for an alleged on-the-job injury last December (said "injury" doesn't seem to have affected his motor skills to any significant degree, that's for sure). As a matter of fact, all of the media attention that Thomas drew to himself by acting like such a fool seems to have royally screwed up that sweet little extended taxpayer-paid vacation he had going for himself:

"The Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensations is investigating whether Thomas' injuries were bad enough to justify a half-year of medical benefits. Spokeswoman Michelle Gatchel said today that she could not comment on the status of the investigation."

As another famous work shirker, Homer Simpson, would put it, "D'oh!"

You'd better get well in a hurry, Mr. Thomas, if you want to have any chance at all of salvaging what little career you have left. We can bet you certainly won't be working traffic enforcement anymore, at any rate. What possible credibility would you have in court?