SMYRNA, GA (WXIA) – Less than a year after the officer-involved shooting death of Nicholas Thomas at a Vinings Goodyear Service Center, the Smyrna officer who fired the fatal shot, Sgt. Kenneth Owens, is being promoted to Lieutenant.
On March 24, 2015, Cobb County and Smyrna officers arrived at the facility on Cumberland Boulevard, where Thomas worked, to arrest him on a felony probation violation warrant.
According to his family, Thomas was in a customer's Maserati at the request of his boss, to pull the vehicle into a bay for service.
Police said that when they showed up at the service center, Thomas jumped into the car, started to drive off and would not surrender. As seen on surveillance video, the white Maserati drove through the parking lot back and forth in forward and reverse in what police said was an attempt to flee. At one point, the vehicle drove toward the responding officers. Owens fatally shot Thomas during the incident.
In July, a Cobb County grand jury later found that the shooting by Owens was justified in the incident. At the time, Cobb D.A. Vic Reynolds called it a tragic situation, and he felt for the Thomas family, but agreed with the grand jury that Owens feared for his life when he fired the shots that killed Thomas.
In a release sent to 11Alive News on Tuesday, the Smyrna Police Department confirmed that Owens is being promoted to the rank of Lieutenant effective Monday, February 15, 2016.
"Sgt. Owens is eligible and qualified for this position as prescribed by departmental policy," the release said.
Thomas' mother, Felecia Thomas, is upset at the promotion. The family plans to file a civil lawsuit against the Smyrna Police Department.
