Man Accused Of Threatening Lombard Cop During Traffic Stop

LOMBARD, IL — A Chicago man faces felony charges after police say he threatened a Lombard police officer during a traffic stop early Thursday.

Daryl Meeks, 41, of the 5400 block of West Haddon Avenue, was charged with two felony counts of threatening a public official and one misdemeanor DUI, along with additional charges for traffic violations.

Lombard police pulled Meeks over just before 2 a.m. after they saw him driving "erratically," according to a news release from the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office. The officer who stopped Meeks reported that they smelled alcohol and burnt cannabis coming from the car Meeks was driving.

Meeks was placed under arrest after he failed field sobriety tests, the news release said.

Prosecutors say that once Meeks got to the police station, he asked the officer how long they had been on the police force. The officer told Meeks they had been with the force for six years.

Meeks is accused of making a hand gesture representing a gun and replying, "I hope your name's on the police report, I'm going to (expletive) you up on my kids. Thank God I didn't have my gun on me tonight. I would have shot the (expletive) out [of] you. If I would have had my gun, I would [have] shot the (expletive) out [of] you when you asked me to step out the vehicle."

DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement, "My office takes any threat or even the perception of a threat against a public employee or elected official extremely seriously. The allegation that Mr. Meeks threatened a law enforcement officer will not be tolerated and will be met with the full force of the law."

Meeks is set to appear in court Feb. 7.