Three officers in northern Illinois suspended for excessive force

[December 12, 2015]  By Brendan O'Brien
 
 (Reuters) - Three northern Illinois police officers accused of choking and pushing a jail inmate who was being held on suspicion of public intoxication have been suspended for using excessive force, an official said on Friday.

The incident involving Fox Lake officers is not related to what investigators have said was an elaborately staged suicide by Fox Lake Lieutenant Joseph Gliniewicz, 52, in September, who is believed to have embezzled from a youth program he ran.

Village Administrator Anne Marrin said on Friday that officer Shane Campion was suspended 30 days, officer Eric Ewald 10 days and detective Jason Baldowsky 20 days in connection with the jail incident in December 2014.

Marrin said the officers agreed to the discipline and have accepted responsibility for failing to follow several department policies and using unnecessary force.

In a jail cell video released on Friday, Baldowsky can be seen pushing Jeffery Grzonka, 36, onto a concrete bench and wrapping his hand around the man's throat for several seconds.

Other officers could be seen on video slamming Grzonka into a wall and a door as the man being held for public intoxication was moved to another jail cell.

During the altercation, Grzonka threatened officers, spit in an officer's face and tried to cover a video camera on the wall, the village said in a statement.

Despite Grzonka's actions, his treatment "was not acceptable and not the conduct expected by a Fox Lake police officer," Marrin said.

The village has not reached an agreement with a fourth officer, Russell Zander, who has denied any wrongdoing in the incident, Marrin said.

Former Fox Lake Police Chief Michael Behan was put on paid administrative leave in August for failing to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident. He retired shortly afterward, Marrin said.

Marrin said the officers could still face criminal charges. The Lake County State's Attorney and the FBI are investigating the incident.

Fox Lake is about 55 miles (88 km) north of Chicago.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Tom Brown)

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