Ex-Mass. Firefighter Goes to Trial on Driving Charges

HAVERHILL, Mass. -- Kevin Thompson, a former firefighter charged with driving firetrucks without a license, will go to trial before a six-member jury next month.

Thompson, 54, who abruptly resigned as a firefighter after city officials confronted him about allegations that he had driven firetrucks 19 times without a valid license and had served four months in a New Hampshire jail while his supervisors thought he was on vacation, was initially scheduled to go on trial this week.

The case was continued until Feb. 21 at the request of attorney Scott Gleason, who represents Thompson. Gleason declined to say why he asked for the continuance. The trial will be in Haverhill District Court.

Mayor James Fiorentini has said he will ask the Haverhill Retirement Board to revoke Thompson's $3,474 monthly pension if he is convicted on the unlicensed driving charge.

Thompson admitted Sept. 7 he had driven a firetruck without a license, but asked that he be spared a guilty finding that would jeopardize his pension. Judge Patricia Dowling rejected a proposal by Gleason to continue the case without a finding and impose $500 in court costs.

Thompson then asked for a jury trial. Police charged Thompson with operating fire apparatus without a driver's license 19 times between March and December 2009.

A conviction, instead of a continuance without a finding, would amount to "disparate treatment" for Thompson because city officials have said they would use it to try to strip Thompson of his pension, Gleason said at the September hearing.

Thompson spent four months in a New Hampshire jail in 2010 after being convicted of driving after suspension of his driver's license, but continued to get paid during his incarceration by keeping it secret from city officials. He kept his paychecks coming by using vacation and personal time and getting other firefighters to cover his shifts -- a practice that Gleason has said was "allowed" by the firefighter union's contract with the city.

Thompson's New Hampshire license was revoked in 1992, after the Granite State determined he was a habitual traffic offender. The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles revoked his license in this state in 1987.

Gleason also said at the September hearing that Thompson served as a Marine and was honorably discharged.

"In his 27-year firefighting career, he was never disciplined," Gleason said of his client. "In 1994, he was Haverhill Firefighter of the Year."

Thompson remains free on his own recognizance.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service