Call taker fired over Moncrief incident

Jen Lawson

Friday, Dec. 19, 2003 | 11:06 a.m.

Sheriff Bill Young fired a 911 call-taker Thursday after he said she falsely claimed she saw Las Vegas Councilwoman Janet Moncrief driving her car after drinking last summer, then lied about her ties to Moncrief's political opponent.

The actions of Cynthia Thomas, 35, were apparently motivated by a desire to discredit Moncrief and get former Councilman Michael Mc-Donald re-elected, Young said.

Thomas also improperly obtained and disseminated information about Moncrief's 1994 DUI arrest, and it became the subject of anti-Moncrief campaigning.

After Moncrief was elected, Thomas told police she saw Moncrief consume three drinks at the Ice House, a downtown bar. Officers found Moncrief at Fellini's restaurant and escorted her outside, where they conducted a field sobriety test.

Moncrief was not intoxicated, police said.

Moncrief's unseated McDonald, a former Metro Police officer, in the spring election. McDonald had been a partner to Thomas' husband, Scott, on Metro's bike patrol for three years.

Scott Thomas also worked on McDonald's campaign, Young said.

"It was orchestrated during the time when (Moncrief) was running for City Council," Young said. "After she was elected, it looked like it was a payback or a way to discredit Miss Moncrief."

Cynthia Thomas was relieved of her duties and placed on paid leave Oct. 30 while Metro's internal affairs bureau conducted an investigation.

"There were a myriad of things that, all totaled, are very serious," Young said.

She improperly accessed Moncrief's criminal record in March, when Moncrief and McDonald were engaged in a bitter election campaign, Young said.

Then in July, after Moncrief was elected, she violated Metro's truthfulness policy by saying she saw Moncrief drinking and driving, then denying any connection to the McDonald campaign, Young said.

Cynthia Thomas passed along Moncrief's arrest record to the McDonald campaign and it was used as ammunition against Moncrief.

Scott Thomas was interviewed during the internal investigation into his wife's actions. However, authorities could not prove that he prompted his wife to do anything on behalf of McDonald's campaign.

"We just couldn't show anything else," Young said. "We had to go with what we could prove."

Cynthia Thomas has a right to appeal her termination to an arbitrator.