SHIELDS OF SHAME • MARTIN COUNTY CASE NETWORK
One traffic stop. Six connected investigations.
Explore the February 13, 2025 Stuart traffic stop, each officer’s documented connection and the separate $10,300 records-fee dispute. Being at the scene does not establish wrongdoing; where the record does not show a specific action, we say so.
Records request #2371-2025: invoice, deposit demand, agency correspondence and unresolved accounting questions.
Primary deputy; authored the traffic-stop and arrest report involving passenger Giselle Flores.
Responding deputy, CAD unit 513; her actions and the reported filming dispute are examined separately.
Responding deputy, CAD unit 516; the record establishes attendance, not a specific arrest action.
S02 responding unit; arrived after a request for a supervisory unit. His decisions remain unverified.
Agency-identified sergeant connected through supplied scene imagery; not among the four CAD-listed units.
SHIELDS OF SHAME | MARTIN COUNTY, FLORIDA | OFFICER CASE FILE
Nicholas A. Thomas: Martin County Traffic Stop, Bodycam Footage and Employment Records
A February 13, 2025 traffic stop outside a Stuart-area gas station brought Martin County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Nicholas A. Thomas into a larger public-records and police-accountability investigation. The agency’s response to records requests later generated a reported $10,300 estimate.
Thomas appears as the primary responding deputy in the incident CAD record. His Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Global Profile Sheet dated April 18, 2025, documents his corrections and law-enforcement employment, certification dates and training. Neither appearing in the traffic stop nor being named in the records dispute, by itself, establishes misconduct.
1. The February 13, 2025 traffic stop
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office CAD record identifies incident 2025-00021924 near 2401 S. Kanner Highway, Stuart, around 1:20 a.m. The incident involved a vehicle stopped near a gas station. Thomas was the primary unit; Tatiana R. Levenar and other deputies are listed as responding.
The original Shields of Shame reporting describes a window-tint-related stop, questions to a passenger, an arrest and filming by someone at the scene. The available screenshots show Thomas interacting with a driver beside a dark-colored car under a brightly lit gas-station canopy. A still image cannot independently establish the legal justification for a detention or the complete sequence of an encounter.
Read the CAD Record ↗Read the Incident Report ↗
2. Employment history: corrections to law enforcement
The FDLE Global Profile Sheet dated April 18, 2025, lists the following agency history:
| Agency / assignment | Start | End / status |
|---|---|---|
| Florida Department of Corrections — corrections | Oct. 6, 2017 | Jan. 5, 2019 — voluntary separation, not involving misconduct |
| Martin County Sheriff’s Office — corrections | Jan. 15, 2019 | Feb. 21, 2022 — transfer within agency, no break in service |
| Martin County Sheriff’s Office — law enforcement | Feb. 21, 2022 | No separation date listed as of April 18, 2025 |
His profile identifies a bachelor’s degree and three active certifications as of the document date: correctional officer certification issued May 14, 2018; law enforcement issued March 1, 2022; and breath test operator issued May 17, 2023. These statuses are historical, not verification of his present-day standing.
3. Training and qualifications
The FDLE profile lists 420 hours of basic correctional training completed in 2018 and 518 hours of crossover training to law enforcement completed in February 2022. Other recorded training includes 40 hours of school resource officer instruction (2022), 40 hours of radar and laser speed measurement (2023), a 16-hour breath test operator course (2023) and 40 hours of hostage and crisis negotiation training (2023). The profile records a mandatory firearms qualification dated October 15, 2024.
The second page of the 2025 profile lists Weapons of Mass Destruction and Incident Command System entries as Not Completed. The record does not establish whether those entries were later updated or whether either course was due for Thomas at that time. No disciplinary finding should be inferred from those labels alone.
Primary document: FDLE Global Profile Sheet
Two-page certification, agency employment and training profile dated April 18, 2025.
4. Filming police and the role of other deputies
Video recording was a central point of contention in the broader traffic-stop investigation. The related Shields of Shame article concerning Deputy Tatiana R. Levenar discusses the reported objection to filming. Thomas and Levenar had different documented roles: Thomas is identified as the primary unit on the CAD record, while Levenar is listed as a responding deputy. Statements attributed to Levenar should not be attributed to Thomas without supporting footage or records.
Related investigation: Tatiana R. Levenar
Read the linked employment and internal-affairs dossier, including the filming dispute and her role in the same traffic stop.
5. The $10,300 public-records estimate
Following the traffic-stop investigation, Shields of Shame sought records from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office. The agency’s estimate was reported as $10,300. That figure is an agency estimate described in the associated records; it is not proof that the requester paid it or that the charge was ruled unlawful.
$10,300 for public records?
Review the actual deposit letter, invoice, CAD materials, incident report, redaction log and legal analysis in the dedicated Martin County public-records dossier.
6. Questions that still require records
- What exactly do all body-camera recordings show before, during and after the traffic stop?
- What specific facts supported each detention, search, citation or arrest?
- Which deputy gave each instruction about filming, and under what circumstances?
- What was the ultimate court disposition of any charge arising from the stop?
- Was the records estimate later reduced, withdrawn, paid or challenged?
Right of reply and source transparency
Thomas and the Martin County Sheriff’s Office may submit corrections, additional footage, policies or other responsive records. This dossier distinguishes confirmed entries in official records from allegations, editorial questions and matters that remain unresolved. It does not assert that Thomas was disciplined or convicted of any offense in connection with this stop.
Source note: FDLE Global Profile Sheet dated April 18, 2025 (two pages); Martin County Sheriff’s Office CAD and incident records linked above; supplied body-camera screenshots; and the related Shields of Shame reporting.
October 2026 primary-record update
Thomas’s four-page incident report says he stopped a black Cadillac at Wawa, 2401 S. Kanner Highway, at about 1:20 a.m. on February 13, 2025, citing modified exhaust and window tint. He identified driver Aiden Singleton and passenger Giselle Flores. Thomas reported that Flores was not wearing a seat belt, refused to identify herself, exited the vehicle, was handcuffed, and was taken to jail, where she provided identification. He documented a resisting-without-violence arrest under F.S. 843.02, a passenger seat-belt citation under F.S. 316.614(5), and a $500 bond. These are his allegations and account, not a judicial finding. Stephen John Walter is listed as reviewer on February 18, 2025. The CAD shows eight traffic citations in the final disposition, but does not identify all recipients or offenses. A separate traffic docket lists Flores’s seat-belt citation as dismissed by the officer; the criminal case outcome requires separate verification.
Related: Read the expanded $10,300 records investigation. The March 24 request was narrowed on March 28 and March 31 before the April 8 invoice. The deposit letter claims 412 hours; its visible tasks itemize 208 hours 45 minutes of potentially chargeable work, plus a 30-minute meeting marked free. These figures require reconciliation, not an assumption of illegality.