Antioch fires police chief
Despite pleas and words of support from about a dozen residents, the Antioch village board on Wednesday voted to fire Police Chief James Foerster.
The move came about two months after local political candidate Scott Pollak claimed the chief tried to attack him at the police station.
Pollak, a Democrat running for state representative against incumbent Republican JoAnn Osmond, had gone to the station because of an earlier confrontation between officers, Pollak's teenage son and other teens over whether a permit was needed for door-to-door campaigning.
Foerster was placed on paid administrative leave after the incident, which was investigated by the Lake County state's attorney's office without charges being filed.
The special board meeting was held Wednesday at Antioch High School to accommodate an anticipated large crowd, and Foerster's future with the village was the only agenda item.
With the board, Mayor Lawrence Hanson and other village officials seated at tables on the auditorium stage, more than 200 people filled the room to see what would become of the chief.
At the start of the meeting, about a dozen audience members spoke in support of Foerster and asked the board to return him to his job. Also addressing the board were two teenagers, including Pollak's son, who witnessed the July 27 confrontation.
The board and village officials then spent nearly two hours in a closed-door session discussing Foerster's fate. When they returned to the auditorium, Hanson read a statement in which he described Foerster's actions on July 27.
Hanson said Foerster admitted he had been drinking earlier in the day and said the incident “shattered his trust in the chief.
Hanson said a police chief must be held to higher standards than anyone else in the department and that Foerster “has brought a tremendous amount of dishonor to the job.
Hanson then moved to fire the chief and asked the board to support the decision. The panel did so by a 4-2 vote.
Fired: Chief brought dishonor to the job, mayor says