Find us on Facebook
Follow us on TwitterRockingham County Sheriff’s Deputy wrecks car, receives minor injuries
Published: July 2, 2009
Maj. J.V. Thomas of the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office received minor injuries after wrecking his car near the N.C. 135 turnoff in Eden early Thursday morning.
Sgt. S.L. Wagner of the N.C. Highway Patrol said that Thomas was traveling on Washington Street in between the N.C. 135 turnoff and Hampton Street when he lost control of his car, ran over the curb, ran off the road to the right, went down an embankment, hit a telephone pole and landed with his car straddling across a ditch. The vehicle was a total loss.
Thomas received minor injuries from the wreck, including minor burns on his neck and arms from the air bags. He was transported to Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, where he was treated and released this morning. No charges have been filed against Thomas.
Speed was a factor in the crash. At the time Thomas lost control of his vehicle, he was traveling at an estimated 50 miles per hour, while the posted speed limit is 35, said Wagner. But he said the crash was most likely caused by Thomas’ “inattention” to the road. Dean Venable, public information officer for the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, said Thomas had been on duty and was returning home after responding to a standoff in Madison in which a man causing a disturbance began firing shots in the direction of deputies.
Advertisement
Reader Reactions
Alright all you arm chair quarterbacks, enough is enough. Most of you don’t even know what you’re talking about. I’ll have you know that if you went out tonight and wrecked your car when no other vehicles were involved and no other property damage occured, more than likely, you wouldn’t get a ticket. In a situation like that, most troopers see the wreck and the totaled car as punishment enough.
Illiterati said: “Sam Page and his officers clearly believe they are above the laws they are paid to uphold, and that’s a dangerous situation for any civilized society.”
How dare you make a generalization like that?! You have no right to say that all of the Rockingham County DEPUTIES think they are above the law. If you don’t agree with some of the policies that are put in place, that’s fine. But don’t accuse every Rockingham County Sheriff’s Deputy of being above the law because that is NOT TRUE. A dangerous society is when the citizens don’t respect the people who protect them enough to realize that they are human beings and they aren’t perfect.
And by the way JAF ..
you think that just because you live in the city means that no deputy has EVER protected you. WRONG ANSWER. Have you ever thought about all the criminals (drug dealers, murderers, kidnappers, thieves, etc) that they arrest in the county who can easily walk right over that city line and come invade your house at night? They may not answer calls in the city, but a lot of the people who cause trouble in the county are from the city. That just shows how much you know… not half as much as you think. And why not put them in the same category as military? and firemen as well? You don’t think going to stand offs and domestic calls where people are drunk and mad is “real danger?“ Then the next time you need help because someone is breaking into your house, call a soldier and see what he can do for you. Every soldier, police officer, fireman, and EMS worker deserve the same respect. They shouldn’t be put into categories by people who don’t know what it’s like to save lives. Soldiers give us freedom from other nations and law enforcement keep us safe from our own people. There is a difference between the two, but neither one is better. And if you think there’s nothing to their job but a paper cut, I’d like to see you try it. You wouldn’t make through the first day of rooky school.
Everyone needs to lay off Major Thomas. The next time you speed I hope we start a forum to dog you. He has gotten enough criticism from people who think they know what it’s like to be in law enforcement when in reality .. you don’t have a clue. So step back and look at your own life before you criticize someone else.
I’m going to have to agree with Gasoline on this one. Let’s see, which one is the easiest and less stressfull…....a police officer/deputy goes to a call and deals with a crazy man with a gun in their face or answer several calls over the phone and give out instructions????Hmmm, I think the answering of the telephone, giving out calls, even if it is multiple is in no way shape or form as hard. I used to Dispatch before becoming an officer…there is no comparison. Yes, dispatching can be stressful, but so can every job….but no where near a law enforcement officers. Emergency personnel dont have it that bad either. They kinda fall into the dispatch category. Animal Control is way more riskier than disp and emergency personnel put together, if you ask me.
I’m confused. According to my directions where he wrecked is on the other side of the county from where the shoot out was.
“Thomas was traveling on Washington Street in between the N.C. 135 turnoff and Hampton Street”
Isn’t that heading toward Mayodan?
Secretaries huh? Maybe you need to sit in sometime and see what the secretaries have to do between just giving the information to the right person. The people in the field deal with things one at a time, Dispatchers deal with multiple calls, departments, all while dealing with the public while sitting in that so called cozy office you speak of. Oh yeh by the way these secretaries as you call them also give out live saving instructions over the phone while the caller is waiting on the help to arrive….what do you do for a living? I doubt anybody in this forum would talk down about you job what ever it is you do or don’t do if that be the case…
no new taxes…..you’ve got to be kidding me, right?
Dispatchers are the secretaries for law officers and emergency personnel…that’s it. Dispatchers never have to go to court but maybe once in a blue moon! The calls are recorded and the recording may go to to court, only if necessary. Dispatchers get the call and simply relay it to the right person to have to deal with face to face instead of the comfort of a chair, behind a computer, and talking on the phone. Now, having said that, I respect what dispatchers do. They play a vital role for people in the field. But let’s not make it more than what it is.
This kind of reminds me of those young kids who volunteer with their local fire/rescue dept so they can feel that rush of energy, light up their blinky blink lights, put that radio on their hip 24/7, make attempts to go to calls they pick up on the radio when there is more than enough personnel on scene, just to feel important!!
Again, the ones that do it for the right reasons, I totally respect!!
People come up to me all the time and say…..whooo, it’s the Nature Boy!!
Megan, when “one of my own” messes up in this way (i.e., needlessly breaks the rules we are paid by the taxpayers to enforce, and needlessly endangers innocent bystanders and destroys public property), I expect him to face the consequences like a man, just as I would if I were in his situation. And I expect the consequences to be no different from those of someone who is not in law enforcement.
We cannot continue to place the police on this “do as they say, not as they do” pedestal. Blind faith in our officials is how our government (local and otherwise) and country as a whole got into this current mess. Sam Page and his officers clearly believe they are above the laws they are paid to uphold, and that’s a dangerous situation for any civilized society.
I feel as if the Major should be treated like any normal citizen would have been treated if this had happened to them. He should be charged.
JAF you are correct. This is not a “Let’s get Jimmy” thing. It is simply pointing out that he is getting special treatment because of who he is and where he is on the food chain. No one is discounting or demeaning all our emergency personnel do (including dispatchers who do have a VERY STRESSFUL job as they listen while the emergency unfolds). What was pointed out was that he had no reason to be speeding, he was not responding to an emergency, the emergency was over. He was inattentive and crashed a county owned car needlessly. Had he been observing the speed limit and still been inattentive he still may have been inattentive and crashed the car. The point is it was his carelessness, it could have been much worse and an average citizen would not have been “given a break.“ Instead he will likely face no disciplinary action, will get another county car and move on like nothing happened. The detention officer in the other article will likely not fare so well. The point is that he will not be treated like any other deputy would have been or has been in the past. Grow up folks, this is not personal, it’s a matter of right and wrong.
gasoline….what do you mean Dispatchers don’t experience nearly as much first hand as other emergency responders…they are the first ones involved with the call. They are the first ones listening to the uncontrolled situation while the caller is waiting for help to arrive, listening for anything in the backgorund that may be able to help the officer with his report that may not have been mentioned while he was on the scene. In a lot of cases, the Dispatcher is in court right a long with the officer with their report with their notes. Not to mention the fact that EVERYTHING a Dispatcher says and does is being recorded.
I agree with megan2nd…witht he exception of the dispatchers. THey dont experince nearly as much first hand as the law officers/emergency personnel do!
No one has been charged…yet. That means he still could be charged at a later date. Give the man a break. He was going home from a stand off. No one has a clue what kind of pressure law officers are under everyday and the public/media are ready to pounce on them if they make one single mistake!
“Deep down in places you dont talk about at parties…you want me on that wall….you need me on that wall!!!!“
Advertisement