Villa Park Official Faces Domestic Battery Charge

VILLA PARK, IL — The interim manager of Villa Park was arrested on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge in November in downstate Pekin, records show.

The manager, Michael Guerra, 41, took the village's helm in late December.

According to court records, Guerra pleaded not guilty in early December.

In an interview Thursday, Village President Nick Cuzzone said Guerra has been "very forthright" about what happened. After the Village Board fired the previous manager, a couple of trustees expressed reservations about tapping Guerra because of the Pekin incident, Cuzzone said.

"There were two police officers there. One of them said this was a he said, she said," Cuzzone said. "It's eventually going to get dismissed."

He said the village is looking for a permanent manager, with Guerra likely to put his name in.

In an email to Patch, Guerra said he has been transparent with the village about the issue, immediately informing the village administration and key members of the public works staff. The Village Board, he said, was aware of it when he was designated interim manager.

Guerra called the incident unfortunate and a private family matter. Under the guidance of his attorney and prosecutors, Guerra said, he has been offered an opportunity in Project Safe, a program that promotes safe family environments to better himself as a person, a spouse and a father.

"Upon successful completion, this case will be fully dismissed against me," Guerra said. "While it is not an admission of guilt, I felt this decision was the best way to resolve the issue for my family and the Village."

Guerra became the village's public works director in April 2020. Before that, he was Pekin's city engineer for a dozen years, according to his LinkedIn Page.

The November incident occurred in the early afternoon at Guerra's Pekin house. Tazewell County sheriff's deputies responded.

According to a report, Guerra was backing out of the driveway when a deputy arrived. The deputy asked him to stay.

Guerra told the officer that he and a woman were arguing when he hit a phone out of her hand, the report said.

The woman told deputies she did not feel safe. She said she grabbed her phone to call 911 when Guerra hit her arm, according to the report. She said Guerra was a big man, so he hit her fairly hard, deputies said.

The woman told deputies she was able to dial 911 when she was pretending to call her mother, the report said. The incident happened while children were in the home, the report said.

Guerra was also initially charged with interfering with the reporting of domestic violence, but that charge was not included in court records. He was taken to the Tazewell County Jail.

In the email, Guerra said the family issue has not affected his performance with the village.

"During my time with the Village, I have dedicated my focus to improving the community and remain committed to the positive momentum generated in the past two years," he said. "The Village has several exciting projects that are under construction or will begin construction this year which includes the new Community Recreation Center, the expansion of Jackson Pond to mitigate flooding for 83 residents, completion of the Maple Area Improvement to separate combination sewers, and rehabilitation of the roadways, along with several more."