Guard guilty of inmate attack keeps job

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - An Erie County Sheriff's deputy who found himself on the wrong side of the law is keeping his job.

Sergeant Thomas Thompson was among three officers at the Erie County Holding Center who were fired for their part in an assault on an inmate. Thompson ordered one of the deputies to punch the inmate and then they all lied about it.

Former sheriff's spokesman Brian Doyle said in 2010, "A sergeant and two deputies lied to the professional standards investigators and that there was a strike to the ribs of a male inmate."

RELATED | Thompson admitted leading the assault on the inmate

The deputies appealed their terminations and subsequently an arbitrator ordered them reinstated. The sergeant was also found guilty on a federal charge of violating the inmate's civil rights and was ordered to spend eight months in a federal halfway house when he is not on duty.

Sheriff Tim Howard was not surprised by the outcome in federal court.

"But the facts of our case did not change from what we originally presented to the arbitrator, which resulted in the arbitrator giving his job back and a State Supreme Court judge saying, 'You have to abide by the arbitrator's ruling,'" Sheriff Howard said.

This was not the first time the sheriff tried to remove deputies for not doing their job. When inmate Brian Collins walked out of his unlocked jail cell and thumbed his nose at Holding Center workers on the roof, he fired a deputy for neglecting his duties. A year and a half later that deputy got his job back.

Sheriff Howard said, "I've learned in 40 years that when the court rules, you accept it. You may not like it, but you accept it, and move on."

His attorney, James Grable, said, "Terrible lapse in judgment. Something that never should have happened. This was a one-time aberration, an offense that he regrets more than words can describe."

"An incarceration would have cost him his job and would have put his wife and his 8-year-old daughter into a financial tailspin," added Grable.

The inmate that was assaulted sued the county, and settled out of court.

Grable noted, "Deputy Thompson himself paid a settlement to the inmate."

And in allowing Thompson to keep his job, the court considered other factors, like his family, military service and service at the Holding Center.

Thompson was, however, busted from sergeant to deputy and now when he is not on duty, he is serving time in a federal halfway house, and receiving full pay.

Sheriff Howard tells News 4 the county attorney is checking to see if there's any additional action that can be taken concerning Thompson's employment.