A Kendall County Sheriff’s deputy was determined to have "lessen(ed) the confidence and esteem" of the department following an internal investigation into an incident in which he drew a gun on a fellow shopper at the Oswego Walmart on Feb. 5 2012.
The exchange began when French made remarks to the wife of Jason Thurmond, Nicole Healy-Thurmond, about the number of items the couple had in an express checkout lane, which then escalated into a shoving match initiated by Thurmond after he said French took a step forward. French then drew his gun, stating only afterward that he was a sheriff’s deputy.
“French did not display the courtesy and decorum I expect from my employees, and thereby tended to lessen the confidence and esteem of the public in the Office of the Sheriff,” Sheriff Richard A. Randall wrote in a letter contained in the department's internal investigation. Randall released the 157-page document Thursday after of a Freedom of Information Act request from the Aurora Beacon News.
Download the full internal investigation here.
“Discipline that is sufficient to prevent such conduct from occurring in the future will be imposed upon Deputy French for this rule violation,” Randall wrote.
“I find that the comments made by Deputy French towards your wife, although not hostile, vulgar or threatening, could be perceived as impolite and discourteous. I find no evidence that Deputy French’s comments or actions justified an escalation of aggression, or physical violence by you.”
Police Operations Commander Phillip J. Smith, who conducted an analysis into the matter added that French’s comments, like “Can’t you count?” and “You’re holding up the rest of the line” were not threatening.
“Furthermore, these comments were made as a private citizen, and should be treated as such and protected,” wrote Smith, as French was off-duty at the time.
Thurmond was charged with battery in the incident, but was found not guilty last November.
Thurmond had filed a lawsuit against the Sheriff’s office citing excessive force and emotional distress seeking in excess of $400,000 in damages. Randall later claimed Thurmond offered to withdraw the lawsuit for a payment of $20,000.
As of Thursday night, the Kendall County Board agreed unanimously to approve the settlement to Thurmond for $20,000, according to the Aurora Beacon. The rest of the lawsuit will be dropped.
Even if the county were to win the lawsuit, said State’s Attorney Eric Weis, the lawsuit would cost at least $25,000 to defend, which is the deductible on the county's insurance, according to the Beacon.
When all of you, supposed online legal scholars, can present a case in court that can support Mr. Thurmond's rendition of the incident versus the multiple witnesses that do not support Thurmond's case, give the Patch and Record a call so we can watch the comedy act unfold on you.
A scam.
Learn to type without caps. If you cannot take a joke then close your eyes or scroll down the page and ignore my post. By the way if you know what Mr. Thurmond did with his award minus the 33% given to the attorneys, please disclose. But I am sure the money will most likely be well spent... :) Sure it will. Thanks
Again read the whole thing. Thurmond asked to settle for 20G. Now all you have to do is confess that it was a scam all along. 400G was a pipe dream and I'm sure you know all about them.
So where did he migrate from Mike? Since you know so much about Thurmond.
Gorilla must have went to one of those liberal schools that taught opinion rather than facts in class. That believes the profession of police work is unethical and real men and women quit... All I can say is WOW! You actually put this on a post and believe it. Please Gorilla remove the tin foil hat because the aliens don't want you for any of their experiments.. :)
***Attention all officers of the surrounding area: Mr. Michael Tkach (if that is his real name) does not need your help because he thinks you guys are all clowns. What a good upright citizen Michael is supporting his local law enforcement agencies.
Sounds like a legitimate reason to agree with this convict being awarded a stupid amount of money for doing nothing more than being a criminal, I bet if the situation were reversed that the focus would be about the "out of control deputy" who had the nerve to hold up the line