Crime & Safety
Dave Savini Prosecution Turned Over to Kane County
A special prosecutor is appointed because CBS 2 investigative reporter Dave Savini is the brother-in-law of a DuPage County State's Attorney's Office supervisor, who might testify in the case.
A high-ranking Kane County assistant state's attorney will handle the prosecution's case against CBS 2 investigative reporter Dave Savini, who is charged with battery, DUI, endangering the life of a child and leaving the scene of an accident after a Jan. 4 incident at a Taco Bell.
First Assistant State’s Attorney Jody Gleason has been appointed as special prosecutor, due to a conflict of interest involving the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office, according to the Daily Herald, Chicago Tribune and other media reports.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a special prosecutor was sought “to avoid any appearance of impropriety," according to a DuPage County State's Attorney's Office spokesperson.
The Daily Herald said the conflict stems from the fact that a supervisor in the State's Attorney's Office — who could be called as a witness in the case — is Savini's brother-in-law. The Daily Herald does not name the supervisor.
According to reports, the 47-year-old reporter who has won 12 local Emmy awards, 29 Associate Press awards and many other accolades got into a fender bender in the Taco Bell parking lot. He is charged with shoving the other driver when the man tried to take a picture of Savini's license plate. Naperville police subsequently arrested him about three miles away.
The charges of endangering the life of a child are pending because Savini had two teenage passengers in the car when he was charged with DUI. Reports said he had a blood-alcohol content of .13.
