Colony police sergeant retires after investigation

Internal review revealed he sold confiscated weapons for store credit

COLONY – A Colonie police sergeant accused of taking firearms surrendered to the police department and selling them for personal use on store credit resigned from the force last week.

On May 24, Sergeant George Thomaides received a disciplinary notice after an internal review of police department policies revealed “inconsistencies” related to firearms, which Police Chief James Gerace said should be destroyed.

A May 27 Times Union article said Thomaides had access to the evidence room and allegedly sold weapons that had been turned over to the evidence room for destruction to local gun shops for credit, which he allegedly used personally at the shops.

“To be clear, these were not weapons used in a crime or in custody, but rather they were surrendered by people who no longer wanted them,” said Lt. Anthony Sidoti. “This does not diminish the seriousness of the matter, but it has no impact on any ongoing or past criminal proceedings.”

The internal investigation will not be closed because Thomaides has retired, and the Times Union reported that the disciplinary notice served on Thomaides last week accused him of lying during an interview with internal affairs investigators in April, but did not include any charges directly related to the firearms misappropriation.

Gerace said the department will notify the state Division of Criminal Justice that Thomaides was served with a disciplinary notice before his retirement took effect. That notice could result in the revocation of his license to practice law enforcement.

New York State changed its police certification rules in 2016 to prevent officers under investigation for misconduct (including possible criminal charges) from resigning from their department or retiring to join another law enforcement agency.

Thomaides, 52, joined the Colonie Police Department in 1997 and was an investigator and weapons expert.

Gerace said that while the process is “far from complete,” the department has already made changes to policies and procedures related to the evidence and evidence room, including permanently assigning a sergeant to work full-time in the evidence room, conducting a best practices analysis for software and the evidence and evidence systems, and enrolling employees in courses run by the International Association for Property & Evidence Inc.

“It is important for the community to know that we as an agency have taken a critical look at ourselves, identified a problem and taken immediate corrective action,” he said.

Gerace also said the department is conducting a comprehensive investigation to determine the root cause of the problem and that disciplinary action will be taken in accordance with department policy and union collective bargaining agreements.