NHP trooper still fighting for benefits

Monday, Oct. 20, 1997 | 9:50 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Ken Gager became a national poster boy for courage with his fight to recover from serious injuries from a mail bomb that exploded in his home four years ago.

He lost his left eye, a portion of his left arm and suffered other extensive injuries. He eventually returned to work for the state, retaining all the extra benefits of a trooper but being assigned a civilian job.

But now he has become the center of a controversy in what both sides feel is a no-win situation.

Gager has been a member of the Nevada Highway Patrol Association for 13 years but he says this union and its president, Steve Harney, are out to ruin him.

In a letter to all patrolmen, Gager says Harney is trying to get him fired as a trooper, to strip him of his rank, accumulated benefits and his opportunity for early retirement.

"Personally, I find this behavior unbelievable and reprehensible from the person in the position I thought troopers had placed our trust in," Gager said.

"I'm fighting for my life," he said Friday in an interview. "You can't trample on people."

Harney denies attacking Gager.

"Not once have we said, 'Fire Ken,'" Harney said. "But the board of directors (of the association) has said everyone needs to be treated equally."

Other troopers injured in the line of duty who could no longer qualify for patrolman status have been forced to take medical retirement at reduced amounts. "If they give benefits to Gager, they should give them to other officers," Harney said.

When he recovered, Gager was assigned to the criminal history repository collecting crime statistics. But he kept his trooper classification, even though he didn't meet the qualifications, such as having a driver's license, passing peace officer standards tests and qualifying for weapons.

The state Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety is moving cautiously on this issue.

Ray Sparks, deputy director of the department, says the agency has been wrestling with the question for some time.

"Nobody wants to disadvantage Ken," Sparks said. "He went through a terrible ordeal. We do not want to harm him economically."

But Sparks said the department must be careful about setting precedents when it comes to personnel issues.

Gager, 46, says he's productive in his new job. "I'm giving them a full eight hours." He wants to remain in his current status and with his current benefits for another six years. Then, he'll have 20 years in and can retire.

"I've earned it," he said. "Why penalize a person for paying the price? Historically, they have taken broken troopers and thrown them in the Dumpster."

Stewart Handte, a vice president in the patrolmen's association, said he wishes Gager had a different perspective.

"He has got to come to the realization he can't be a trooper anymore," Handte said. "The state is now in violation of the law in keeping him a commissioned officer who doesn't qualify."

If this isn't resolved soon, Handte predicts other troopers who suffered disabling injuries will sue the state.

"What's fair for one is fair for everybody," he said. "I feel sorry for Ken and his family and what happened to him. But it's a bitter pill for me to swallow with him criticizing the association, which gave him $8,000 while he was in the hospital."

Gager says Harney made a request to Sparks to have him terminated -- an allegation denied by Harney and Sparks. He says he's been singled out by Harney because he has questioned "tens of thousands of dollars missing" from the union treasury.

Harney responds that every "dime, nickel and penny" is accounted for and nothing is missing. And an accountant oversees the books.

Harney, mentioned as a possible Clark County Commission candidate, said other troopers have been forced to take reduced medical retirement when injured on the job.

In addition, he and Handte said the patrol needs all its troopers on the road.

"Gager is occupying a slot we could use," Handte said. "The patrol has extended far more benefits to him than any other trooper."

Harney and Handte agree that Gager was "a fine trooper." They stress the issue is not about Gager but about equal treatment.

The mail bomb delivered by the Postal Service to Gager's home in September 1993 came from Robert Collins, who was later convicted and sentenced to 75 years in prison. Gager made a routine traffic stop of Collins but a later search of his car turned up evidence linking him to insurance fraud and burglary.

Gager spent two months in the hospital and another two months in a unit adjoining the hospital. He underwent 21 surgeries.