Pubdate: Thu, 20 Jun 2002
Source: Commercial Appeal (TN)
Copyright: 2002 The Commercial Appeal
Contact:  http://www.gomemphis.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/95
Author: William C. Bayne

DEPUTY REFUSES DRUG TEST, IS FIRED

DeSoto Officer Reported Being Stabbed Last Week

A DeSoto County deputy who said he was stabbed outside his home last week 
was fired Wednesday after he refused to take a drug test.

Patrolman Mike Thomas, 28, failed to follow a lawful order, said Cmdr. Mark 
Blackson of the DeSoto Sheriff's Department.

The investigation of the case has been turned over to the Internal Affairs 
Department.

Thomas told investigators a man wearing dark clothes and a ski mask 
attacked him when he went outside to lock a car at around 11:30 p.m. June 11.

Thomas said that during the struggle, he was stabbed with a syringe and 
another object. He suffered what officers called a superficial cut to his 
upper left arm. The syringe was jammed into his upper left shoulder, he said.

Officers haven't found the knife. Blackson said the wound was about a 
quarter-inch deep.

A urinalysis after the alleged attack found evidence of cocaine and two 
prescription drugs, Lortab and Xanax, in the deputy's system.

Thomas said the cocaine was from the syringe. Blackson said Thomas had 
prescriptions for the other two drugs.

Lortab is a painkiller, and Xanax is an anti-anxiety medication.

Thomas returned to his patrol duties Friday after two days of convalescent 
leave.

The deputy lives off Goodman Road west of Horn Lake, but the sheriff's 
department would not say where Wednesday, citing the continuing 
investigation. His phone number isn't listed.

Deputies sent the syringe to the state crime laboratory for analysis, but 
no report on the tests was available Wednesday.

Thomas has 10 days to file an appeal of his dismissal, said Cmdr. Jim Dunn, 
commander of the Internal Affairs Bureau.

Further action in the criminal investigation of the incident is unlikely 
until the crime lab report is filed, he said.

No arrests have been made in the case and no suspects have been identified.

Thomas had been assigned to the patrol division as a motorcycle officer. 
Earlier in his career, he worked with DeSoto County's Metro Narcotics Unit.

Initially, Cmdr. John Magness suggested revenge might be the motive for the 
attack.

County records showed Thomas was being paid $25,848 a year as a patrolman.
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