Lexington police officer suspended after crashing department vehicles 5 times in 2 years
A Lexington police officer has been suspended for a week without pay after crashing his department vehicle five times in two years.
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council voted Nov. 14 to suspend John Gibbons and revoke his take-home vehicle privileges for six months in connection to the three most recent crashes.
All five of the crashes were minor, and no one was injured, though Gibbons failed to report at least one to his supervisor, according to documents obtained by the Herald-Leader through an open records request.
The incidents date back to April 5, 2023, when Gibbons hit a police car while trying to parallel park on Nicholasville Road in a police “wagon,” used to transport people to jail.
Gibbons “drove too close, causing the passenger side of the wagon to come into contact with the other (police) vehicle’s rear taillight,” according to an investigation summary by the department’s Public Integrity Unit.
About two months later, Gibbons and another officer were parked off Executive Drive when the other officer started to back up to leave for a dispatched call. Gibbons started to back up too, “did not see the other cruiser in his blind sport,” and collided with the other officer’s muffler, causing a flat tire on Gibbons’ car, according to an incident summary.
Then, on Jan. 24 of this year, Gibbons hit an unoccupied car while backing into a parking space. He told investigators the weather “was heavily icy that night,” according to an incident summary.
Gibbons received driving re-training in February because of the crashes. He also received a written reprimand and a two-week suspension of his take-home vehicle privileges, according to police records. He admitted to being at fault in all three of the crashes.
On July 27, Gibbons was again backing into a parking space while on a call and hit a pole, according to an incident summary, causing minor damage to the vehicle.
And on Aug. 31, Gibbons hit a curb in a police vehicle, causing two flat tires. Gibbons called a tow company to retrieve the car, records show, but failed to alert his supervisors to the crash. City mechanics discovered the damage when Gibbons returned the vehicle.
The vehicle was a pool car, which Gibbons was required to sign out but failed to do so, according to disciplinary records.
Gibbons’ one-week suspension concluded Dec. 1, according to department records.
A spokeswoman for the Lexington Police Department said Gibbons was not available for comment.
