Off-duty Chicago cop suspected of making bogus 911 call
BY FRANK MAIN Staff Reporter/[email protected] Mar 8, 2011 10:26AM
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An off-duty Chicago Police officer was ordered to park his vehicle — and catch a cab or walk home — after he was stopped last year for speeding in north suburban Niles and admitted that he had been drinking, authorities said.
But instead of accepting his lucky break, the off-duty Chicago cop is suspected of making a bogus 911 call to divert the Niles officer, authorities said.
The Niles officer left to investigate the report of a fight at a nearby bar, but when he got there he realized the call was phony, Niles Police Chief Dean Strzelecki said Monday.
When the Niles officer returned to the scene of the traffic stop, the off-duty Chicago cop and his vehicle were gone, Strzelecki said.
The chief said his officer had smelled alcohol on the off-duty cop, who admitted he had a “couple of drinks.†But the Niles officer did not order the off-duty cop to undergo a field-sobriety test after the traffic stop shortly after 2 a.m. on Nov. 5.
The Niles officer — whose in-car video camera recorded the incident — is not in trouble for giving the off-duty cop a break, Strzelecki said.
“We don’t just do this for cops,†he said. “I tell my coppers ‘use your discretion.’ . . . I am sure if he [the off-duty officer] was falling all over himself, there would have been a different outcome . . . Sometimes my cops even drive people home.â€
A source confirmed the Chicago Police Department is conducting an internal investigation into the allegations against the off-duty cop, who is a tactical officer in the Jefferson Park District on the Northwest Side. The officer has remained on active duty during the investigation, the source said.
BY FRANK MAIN Staff Reporter/[email protected] Mar 8, 2011 10:26AM
ShareE-MailPrint
An off-duty Chicago Police officer was ordered to park his vehicle — and catch a cab or walk home — after he was stopped last year for speeding in north suburban Niles and admitted that he had been drinking, authorities said.
But instead of accepting his lucky break, the off-duty Chicago cop is suspected of making a bogus 911 call to divert the Niles officer, authorities said.
The Niles officer left to investigate the report of a fight at a nearby bar, but when he got there he realized the call was phony, Niles Police Chief Dean Strzelecki said Monday.
When the Niles officer returned to the scene of the traffic stop, the off-duty Chicago cop and his vehicle were gone, Strzelecki said.
The chief said his officer had smelled alcohol on the off-duty cop, who admitted he had a “couple of drinks.†But the Niles officer did not order the off-duty cop to undergo a field-sobriety test after the traffic stop shortly after 2 a.m. on Nov. 5.
The Niles officer — whose in-car video camera recorded the incident — is not in trouble for giving the off-duty cop a break, Strzelecki said.
“We don’t just do this for cops,†he said. “I tell my coppers ‘use your discretion.’ . . . I am sure if he [the off-duty officer] was falling all over himself, there would have been a different outcome . . . Sometimes my cops even drive people home.â€
A source confirmed the Chicago Police Department is conducting an internal investigation into the allegations against the off-duty cop, who is a tactical officer in the Jefferson Park District on the Northwest Side. The officer has remained on active duty during the investigation, the source said.
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