Midnight Mudslinging In Bensenville?

BENSENVILLE, IL – A man who was distributing political flyers in the middle of the night earlier this month was cited on a charge of disorderly conduct, Bensenville police said.

The incident happened overnight April 2, two days before the election.

Shortly before midnight, police received a call about people posting political literature in Bensenville, according to a police report.

On the way to the call, an officer was stopped by Valarie Special, one of the six candidates in the April 4 Village Board election.

She said she was notified that people were posting flyers defaming her, the report said. The flyer in question criticized Village Board candidates Special, Chris McCullough and Julia Styrczula as well as Richard Johnson, president of the Bensenville Park District board, police said.

Johnson also met with officers and produced a doorbell video of a younger man walking up to his door and taping one of the flyers, police said. Special reported the perpetrator was driving a newer model Mustang.

Police found the driver of the Mustang, who was identified as 22-year-old Alexander Heinz.

Heinz admitted to posting the flyers and told officers an undisclosed party was paying him, the report said. He said his employer requested the late hours.

Heinz's brother was with him in the car. Special said she saw two women in the group posting flyers, but they were not found, police said.

Heinz, who agreed to leave the area, was charged with violating the village's disorderly conduct ordinance, police said.

In an interview Monday, Heinz said he and the others acted respectfully and that they violated no laws. He said people have a right to spread political messages.

He said he could not release the name of the company that hired him because he signed a nondisclosure agreement.

"Personally, I have gone to over 50,000 doors while canvassing. This was another project for me to do," he said.

Heinz said he has been canvassing since 2016. It has become more of an issue with the proliferation of doorbell cameras, he said.

Special, McCullough and Styrczula all lost their bids for the Village Board to candidates Rosa Carmona, Nicholas Panicola and Marie Frey.

A couple of weeks before the election, Carmona's husband, Dimas Carmona, was seen on video striking Special's husband, Robert Special, outside the police station. Dimas Carmona was charged under the village's battery ordinance.