Civilian Employee Steals Drugs From Police Evidence: County

VILLA PARK, IL — A former civilian employee at the Villa Park Police Department has been charged with two counts of official misconduct, one count of theft of government property, one count of possession of a controlled substance and one count of misdemeanor theft, according to the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office. John Simons, 48, of Lombard, has an arrested warrant issued on Nov. 5, and he turned himself into the authorities on Nov. 6.

The State's Attorney's Office said that on Oct. 10, Simons allegedly stole hydrocodone pills from the evidence vault of the Villa Park Police Department. Upon learning of the alleged theft, the Villa Park Police Department contacted the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office. Simons has since resigned from his position with the police department.

“I would like to commend Chief Lay and his administration, particularly Deputy Chief William Lyons, for uncovering this alleged theft and for immediately bringing this matter to our attention,” DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a release. “There is no room for the type of behavior alleged in this case at any work place let alone a police department whose primary mission is to protect and serve the public."

“I am very disappointed that an employee of our department was allegedly involved in activity that lead to these charges,” Police Chief Michael Lay said. “I am thankful that members of our department discovered potential wrongdoing on the part of the employee, swiftly initiated an investigation and brought the information to the attention of the DuPage County State’s Attorneys’ office for further investigation.”

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