Photos for Headline Surfer / ABOVE: Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma is shown along with slain Deputy HE Thomas Jr., shot and killed in the line of duty on March 28, 1989, in Geneva, Florida. LEFT: Graveside of Seminole County Deputy HE Thomas Jr., buried in Lake Mary, Florida. BELOW: Tribute videos to HE Thomas Jr and five other deputies killed in the line of duty with the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.
By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
LAKE MARY, Fla. -- You know the road if you live in Sanford or Lake Mary: HE Thomas Jr Parkway.
It's a main thoroughfare, also known as Seminole County Road 46A. It intersects with Rhinehart Road and is a short distance to Interstate 4 in Lake Mary.
You might not know the name of the individual for whom this roadway is named, but Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma does.
On March 28, 1989, Deputy Sheriff Hugh E. Thomas Jr., 24, was shot and killed in the line of duty while responding to a domestic-related prowler call in Geneva, a rural community in Seminole County.
Lemma, the elected sheriff of Seminole County since 2017, was hired as a deputy three years after Thomas was gunned down in cold blood. He may not have known him personally but he knows of his enduring legacy on road patrol for five years since the tender age of 19.
"Deputy Hugh Thomas Jr. was a pioneer of community policing throughout Seminole County," Lemma told Headline Surfer on the anniversary date of his death. "Many know his name but may never know the impact he made on our profession."
Sheriff Lemma added, "Deputy Thomas is one of our heroes. He remains a pillar of our organizational philosophy of engaging and partnering with every sector of our community. He is honored and missed every day."
"Deputy Hugh Thomas Jr. was a pioneer of community policing throughout Seminole County," Sheriff Dennis Lemma told Headline Surfer on the anniversary date of his death. "Many know his name but may never know the impact he made on our profession." Lemma added, "Deputy Thomas is one of our heroes. He remains a pillar of our organizational philosophy of engaging and partnering with every sector of our community. He is honored and missed every day."
Here is a synopsis of what led to Thomas' death as described in part in the Orlando Sentinel the day after he was killed:
A Sanford man may have been trying to carry out his vow to kill his wife when the deputy spotted him off a rural dirt road, rifle in hand, 30 feet from the house where she was staying.
Before he could fulfill his threat, Tony LeMasters shot Deputy Thomas, who tried to stop him. Then he took the deputy’s service revolver, held the .357-caliber pistol to his head, squeezed the trigger, and fell beside his victim.
Thomas, who was engaged to marry his former commander’s daughter, became the first Seminole deputy killed on duty in 11 years.
“It is easy to say a deputy is a nice guy. But in this case he just happened to be a great guy,” said sheriff’s Capt. Roy Hughey, the department spokesman at the time. “A few weeks ago he helped my 81-year-old mother get her cat off the roof.”
The fatal shooting was five days after LeMasters, 27, was released from the Seminole County jail in Sanford. The Seminole-Brevard state attorney’s office, citing lack of evidence, decided not to bring formal charges against him for helping his fugitive brother and another man elude authorities last month, according to the Sentinel.
LeMasters’ wife, who had visited him in jail, got a court order to keep him away from her.
“. . . He has said that ‘If you ever leave, I will find you and kill you,’ ” Janice LeMasters told a circuit judge, as reported in the Sentinel.
The morning LeMasters was released from jail, he hitched a ride from two men who saw him standing on a bridge over the Econlockhatchee River, according to Hughey in a Sentinel story on the bloodshed. The men said they saw LeMasters carrying a .22-caliber rifle but thought he had been shooting at fish in the stream.
They let LeMasters off along Snow Hill Road near the intersection of State Road 426, close to his mother-in-law’s house where his wife and 5-month-old daughter had been staying.
Eddie Banks, who lives nearby, said he saw a man get out of a Jeep-like vehicle at about 8:15 a.m. The man, carrying a rifle, crawled into some brush. Banks went back to his house, got his gun, and told his wife to call the sheriff’s department, according to the Sentinel.
“I knew it didn’t look right,” said Banks, 69, of 855 Snow Hill Road. “A man wouldn’t just crawl on his stomach when he could have walked.”
A few minutes later Thomas arrived and went down McLain Lane, a dirt road running off Snow Hill. He went to the front door, spoke with someone inside the house, and then went to the side of the home, Hughey said.
There he confronted LeMasters. Banks said he heard the deputy yell, “Halt!” Then the gunman cursed at the deputy. He heard four shots fired successively – the first from the suspect’s rifle. Another neighbor said he heard two to three shots. Then-Deputy Tony Diaz arrived as backup a minute later. He found both men dead.
Multimedia videos
SCSO video / Trubute: On this day in 1989, Deputy Hugh Thomas, a Lake Brantley High School graduate, was shot and killed in the line of duty. Especially in the challenging times we face today, know that the courageous men and women who wear the badge are there whenever you need them. This video is our memorial to a dedicated public servant, gone too soon.
SCSO video / 2024 Seminole County Sheriff's Office tribute to its deputies killed in the line of duty; all described as heroes who sacrificed their own lives for the safety of others, as described by Sheriff Dennis Lemma during the SCSO ceremony.
End of Watch
HE Thomas is among six deputies killed in the line of duty with the Seminole County Sheriff's office. Here is a brief summary of the others:
Deputy Sheriff Matt Miller - End of Watch Dec. 26, 2011: A 28-year law enforcement veteran, Miller served five years with the Longwood Police before joining the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office in 1988. In 1992, he was one of the first deputies assigned to the agency’s newly-created motor unit, and he would go on to spend much of his career assigned there. On the afternoon of Dec. 26, 2011, Miller was conducting traffic enforcement when a vehicle made a left-hand turn in front of him, colliding with his motorcycle and fatally injuring him. A former member of the U.S. Marine Corps and a skilled law enforcement officer, Miller was highly regarded within the agency and the community. He was 53 years old and was survived by his wife.
Deputy Deputy Sheriff Eugene Gregory - End of Watch July 8, 1998: Gregory lost his life in the line of duty after being mortally wounded while handling an aggravated assault call involving an armed, mentally ill person. Gregory exemplified the spirit of community policing in his day-to-day service, and his death served as the inspiration for the community and the Sheriff's Office to take a proactive role in mental health intervention and treatment that continues to this day.
Deputy Sheriff George Pfeil - End of Watch Dec. 29, 1977: Pfeil made the ultimate sacrifice after being mortally wounded when he interrupted an armed robbery at the Longwood Village Pharmacy. Having just completed a special detail, Pfeil was in uniform and entered the pharmacy to get a prescription filled when he was gunned down. One of the suspects was sentenced to death and executed in 2000; two others were subsequently murdered, and the fourth suspect was sentenced to prison. Pfeil was a retired New York City police officer who served as a reserve deputy sheriff with the SCSO after moving to Florida.
Deputy Sheriff Moore Robert O. Moore - End of Watch June 9, 1975: Moore made the ultimate sacrifice when he succumbed to smoke inhalation and intense heat exposure while rescuing inmates during the Seminole County Jail fire on June 9, 1975. Moore had successfully brought several inmates to safety before heroically re-entering the burning jail his final time in yet another attempt to save other trapped inmates. Ten inmates and Moore perished in this fire, which was intentionally set by an inmate.
Deputy Sheriff James Cleveland Jacobs - End of Watch Sept. 14, 1922 - was shot and killed while attempting to arrest a man for stealing a pair of pants. Jacobs located the man at a nearby home and went to the front door. As he stood at the front door, the suspect opened fire with a shotgun, striking Deputy Sheriff Jacobs in the chest. Though mortally wounded, Jacobs still managed to fire two shots at his assailant. Jacobs was transported to the hospital, where he tragically succumbed to his wounds. The suspect was arrested, tried, and convicted of the murder of Jacobs. He was sentenced to death and later hanged on March 30, 1923.
About the Headline Surfer Byline Writer: Henry Frederick is an award-winning journalist who launched Headline Surfer in 2008, which serves greater Daytona Beach, Sanford & Orlando via