Men Arrested After Fox Lake Cop's Suicide Can Sue Village: Judge

FOX LAKE, IL — Three men who were arrested in 2015 following the death of a Fox Lake police lieutenant will be able to sue the city for wrongful arrest, a federal judge ruled, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The Sept. 1, 2015 death of Fox Lake Police Lt. Joe Gliniewicz was a mystery. While on duty, Gliniewicz called into dispatch saying he was pursuing three men. He was shot soon after. Police swarmed the area, eventually arresting three men that fit the vague description.

It was discovered two months later that Gliniewicz had killed himself, shooting himself in the chest. An internal audit by Village Manager Anne Marrin, Lt. Gliniewicz feared, would have revealed his theft from the Explorer program, according to reports.

Gliniewicz was worried about Marrin finding out about his shady ways. He took steps to try contacting the leader of a motorcycle gang so he could put a hit on her, police said text messages showed.

Raymond Willoughby, Damien Ward and Dan Cooper, the three men suing Fox Lake for their wrongful arrest, say they were targeted unfairly, the Tribune reported. They attempted to name Fox Lake Police Chief George Filenko, who led the investigation into Gliniewicz's death, as a defendant, but Guzman denied that request.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman denied Fox Lake's request to dismiss the suit, which claimed there wasn't sufficient evidence to show the Fox Lake Police Department had a culture of misconduct. The plaintiffs had "set out facts sufficient to allege" that the manhunt for Gliniewicz's "nonexistent killers" was a result of the village's "failure to supervise or discipline" Gliniewicz.

Gliniewicz's wife, Melodie, who has been charged with assisting him in siphoning money from the Explorers program, is attempting to get pension money.

Article image Fox Lake Police Department