Mayor removes Fishers police chief after DUI arrest

John Tuohy | IndyStar

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Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness removed his police chief from office Monday and ordered an internal probe that could end in further discipline, including the chief's firing, following his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving in Indianapolis over the weekend.

The mayor already had suspended Chief Mitch Thompson with pay following the Friday night arrest at 96th Street and Keystone Avenue. He said after speaking with the chief Monday morning that they decided Thompson could not longer serve as an effective leader.

"His ability to lead moving forward has been eliminated" by the arrest, Fadness said in an interview with IndyStar. "We both agreed it was not possible under the circumstances."

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Thompson has been demoted to his non-appointed rank of sergeant and will continue to be suspended with pay — but at a sergeant's salary — until the criminal case in Marion County is resolved. Thompson is paid $112,150 a year. The annual base salary for a sergeant is $70,902.

Indianapolis Metropolitan police said Thompson's private car rear-ended a vehicle, which hit a third car from behind at about 11 p.m. He submitted to a portable breathalyzer test and registered a reading of 0.126 percent. A driver who registers a blood alcohol content level of 0.08 percent or higher is considered legally drunk in Indiana.

Fadness said Thompson called him and told him about the arrest as a soon as he was released from the Marion County Jail on Saturday. His suspension means Thompson surrendered his take-home car, badge and police weapons, Fadness said.

In a statement, Thompson said stepping down was an "important first step in taking responsibility for my actions."

"I apologize to you, the men and women of the Fishers Police Department and the citizens of this city for failing to meet the professional standards that I try to set for myself" Thompson said in a letter.

Fadness called Thompson "an exemplary employee."

Thompson, 48, joined the department in 1991, was promoted to sergeant in 1994 and assigned as patrol commander in 1999. For more than a decade Thompson was a Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer (D.A.R.E.) at Hamilton Southeastern Schools, teaching classes on the dangers of drugs.

In 2003, Thompson was appointed assistant chief of police, and in 2016 Fadness made Thompson chief.

Detectives in Fishers will lead an internal investigation that the interim chief, Assistant Chief Ed Gebhart, will use to determine what discipline Thompson should face, Fadness said.

Any punishment longer than a week's suspension will need to be reviewed and approved by the five-member Police Merit Commission, made up residents from the community. No discipline will be handed out until the DUI charge is adjudicated.

Thompson said in his statement he was cooperating with Marion County prosecutors. He could not be reached for comment.

Marion County prosecutor's office spokeswoman Peg MacLeish said formal charges have not yet been filed and Thompson won't make his initial court appearance until they are.

Fadness said he could not remember a disciplinary case handled by the merit board since the town of Fishers became a city in 2015.

Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418. Follow on facebook and Twitter.