Deputy claims demotion over Delphi investigation, files lawsuit against Carroll County Sheriff

CARROLL COUNTY, Ind. — A Carroll County Sheriff’s deputy has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Sheriff Tobias Leazenby and the sheriff’s office claiming that he was the victim of political retaliation for his unsuccessful attempt to campaign in next month’s general election.

In the lawsuit, Deputy Michael Thomas cites his involvement in the early days of the Delphi murders investigation as the beginning of the end of his relationship with his boss.

“Upon Thomas’s information and belief, Leazenby and others in the CCSO did not approve of Thomas running for office, in part because Thomas had made suggestions and offered assistance in the investigation of a high-profile child homicide investigation, which was overruled and which Leazenby and others in the CSCO feared would become publicized as a result of the campaign and/or Thomas’s potential election.”

Sheriff Leazenby did not respond to a request for comment.

When the bodies of Abby Williams and Libby German were discovered below the Monon High Bridge in February of 2017, Thomas was the Chief Deputy of Carroll County, the second highest ranking of 12 deputies in the sheriff’s office.

As Delphi was immediately flooded with Indiana State Troopers, FBI agents and detectives from other agencies, Thomas took a lead role in assisting in the investigation.

”The bigger agencies were involved from Day One so I was deeply involved in the beginning.”

That involvement included conversations with then-Carroll County Prosecutor Robert Ives.

”This crime is unique to this area as well as pretty much a lot of different areas and there are experts out there that have dealt with this sort of thing before and I believe that it could have been very beneficial,” said Thomas. ”In the very first few weeks of the double homicide, I wanted to bring experts in and I was given that task by the Carroll County Prosecutor and basically they didn’t like what I had to say and it kind of went downhill from there.”

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