Gahanna officer clocked at 149 mph pleads guilty

[ken]

By Josh Jarman
The Columbus Dispatch

A Gahanna police officer pleaded guilty this morning to speeding charges after he was ticketed last month for traveling almost 150 miles per hour on a motorcycle.

Gahanna Officer Christopher Thomas, 33, received a speeding ticket eight days after he was caught going 149 mph on I-70 near Buckeye Lake, and then only after the Ohio Highway Patrol made a courtesy call to his department. Trooper Jason E. Highsmith, 35, who was riding his motorcycle near Thomas, received a ticket for going 147 mph four days later.

Licking County Municipal Judge W. David Branstool fined Thomas the maximum $150 and suspended Thomas' driver's license for six months, citing the reckless nature of the crime. Thomas had faced a maximum suspension of three years.

Branstool said he was sure Thomas had seen the consequences of excessive speed first hand in his nine years as a police officer.

"Those experiences are more sobering than anything I can tell you here today," he said.

Before receiving his sentence, Thomas apologized to his family, saying his actions displayed a bad lapse in judgment.

"I know it was an extremely wrong thing to do," he said.

The Ohio Department of Public Safety has requested an investigation into the actions of all three men involved in the June stop, including Trooper Bryan D. Lee, 25, of the Granville post, who wrote the tickets. Footage from Lee's cruiser shows him recognizing Highsmith and turning off the sound halfway through the official recording.

Highsmith pleaded not guilty last month. He has a trial pending.

Brian Hoyt, Gahanna spokesman, said the guilty plea does not automatically trigger any action from the city, but will be factored into an ongoing internal investigation into possible disciplinary proceedings. He said he was unsure what the driving suspension would mean to the officer's work duties, adding that Thomas is still on injury leave.

Thomas has been on paid leave since a December on-the-job accident.

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.