Arkansas State Police commissioners took 15 minutes to uphold the agency's decision to fire a trooper after a five-hour-long appeal hearing Thursday.
Cpl. Tom Weindruch, who accrued nine discipline actions in his 10-year career, including the two complaints that prompted his Jan. 16 firing, failed to win his bid for reinstatement after the commission voted unanimously to support his job termination.
Weindruch's career, which ended as a patrolman for Troop I in Harrison, was one beset by a string of complaints of rude, unprofessional and angry behavior, according to agency commander Col. Stan Witt and several others who testified against the former trooper.
When he was transferred to Harrison in 2011, Weindruch was told by multiple members of his command that it was his last chance, according to his supervisor, Sgt. Greg Alexander, who also forbade his officer from attending any more local high school basketball games for several months after Weindruch was escorted out of a gym after displaying a "vocal displeasure with some calls" made by referees.
The last chance, according to state police attorney Greg Downs, was wasted on two unrelated incidents in early 2013 that involved a janitor in one and speculation of a football game between the University of Arkansas and Arkansas State in the other.
Weindruch, who attended First Baptist Church in Flippin, received a pair of complaints from members about a maintenance man at the high school across the street from the church who drove on the grounds while trying to pick up garbage from 55-gallon bins.
According to the complaint from the janitor, Weindruch pulled him away from work, detained him for several minutes and wouldn't let him go back to work until the "investigation" was finished.
Weindruch's attorney, Robert Newcomb, as well as his wife and fellow church members, testified that Weindruch tried to handle the situation personally so there was no need to involve other agencies or get the janitor in trouble.
The other complaint arose when someone anonymously tipped Alexander that Weindruch was calling out Rep. Andy Mayberry, R-Hensley, on Facebook for trying to legislate a one-time football game between the Razorbacks and the Red Wolves during the 2013 legislative session.
"You're a fool," Weindruch posted on the site, which featured him wearing an Arkansas State Police uniform. "What waste of time to introduce a bill that would mandate a football game between U of A and ASU. I'm pretty sure there are more important things to take care of than trying to mandate a football game. SHAME ON YOU."
The legislation failed in committee in March, but the complaint was sustained that Weindruch not only broke social media policies by wearing his uniform, but that he put the agency at risk by name-calling a legislator.
Weindruch's attorney argued that his client had a right to state an opinion on a political matter and that the state police's preferences do not trump the First Amendment.
But Witt, along with attorney Downs, pointed out that there are precedents in public- employee case law that allows law enforcement agencies to curb speech that could put that agency in a negative light.
Ultimately, Witt said, it wasn't the Facebook incident, or the incident with the janitor, that prompted him to fire Weindruch.
The trooper's career was marred by "unprofessional" conduct and "poor judgment" since before it began, dating back to a road rage incident involving Weindruch just weeks before he graduated from the state academy in 2004.
Metro on 06/06/2014