|
| Alleged N-Word-Using Cop Disciplined Before |
|
|
Drunken Off-Duty Officer Said Thrown Out of Restaurant
02/19/10
W. ORLANDO PIERCE
Email this story to a friend
Officer Thomas Fees in a mug shot after his arrest on Feb. 6. |
TULSA--The police officer arrested two weekends ago after allegedly threatening to "kill that n_____" (using a racist epithet to refer to a bouncer, who is Black) has been twice suspended from the Tulsa Police Department, the Black Chronicle has learned. The off-duty officer was pointing a gun at the bouncer when he made the comment.Prosecutors charged Officer Thomas Fees, 33, last week with feloniously pointing a weapon and carrying a firearm while under the influence, court records show.Officer Fees was booked into the Tulsa Jail on Feb. 6 and then was released on a $40,000 bond. He remains on paid on administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.The officer is accused of being intoxicated while carrying a firearm at Oscar's Gastro Pub, 1738 S. Boston Ave., and pointing it at an employee there at about 1:15 a.m. on Feb. 6.The off-duty officer had been drinking cocktails at the restaurant, when he began grabbing a woman, witnesses said.After being repeatedly asked by the woman's boyfriend to stop, Officer Fees cursed at the man and identified himself as a police officer, witnesses said.An argument ensued between the officer and the woman's boyfriend, and security guards asked multiple times the off-duty policeman to leave before forcing him out, managers at the restaurant said.Once outside, Officer Fees drew his gun, police department records said, and pointed it at one of the security guards, a Black man.If you don't move,¨ Officer Fees said, according to witnesses, I'll kill that n_____.¨The off-duty officer then went to Mercury Lounge, a bar across the street from Oscar's Gastro Pub.Policemen arrested Officer Fees at Mercury Lounge.When officers arrived at the Mercury Lounge, records said, Officer Fees was unsteady on his feet, had slurred speech, and his body and breath smelled strongly of alcohol.The Tulsa World reported last week it had acquired personnel records through an open records request that show that Officer Fees was disciplined twice before by the Tulsa Police Department.These are the two incidents. In April 2006, Officer Fees was suspended for three days without pay for possessing and attempting to distribute pseudoephedrine on the Internet, the Tulsa World reported.Pseudoephedrine is a prescription drug used to relieve nasal and sinus congestion caused by colds, allergies and hay fever.) Officer Fees was suspended without pay for two days in Oct. 2005 for leaving his patrol car unlocked with the engine running. That is a violation of the department¡¦s policies about keeping police equipment secure. Also in Oct. 2005, Officer Fees was disciplined for being disrespectful to an on-site assessor for a police accreditation organization, the Tulsa World reported.Regarding the Feb. 6 incident, Officer Fees will remain on paid administrative leave until the criminal case has been resolved, Capt. Jonathan Brooks said.At the conclusion of that investigation, if necessary, an internal affairs investigation will begin,¡¨ Capt. Brooks pointed out.In cases where felony convictions occur, an officer could be terminated based on the conviction alone, Capt. Brooks noted.Capt. Brooks said Officer Fees is on paid administrative leave because he is afforded due process.If we suspend him without pay,¡¨ he said, we have circumvented procedural due process.¡¨
|
|
|
|
