Woman Tackled By Joliet Cop Faces 1 Formal Charge

JOLIET, IL — A 40-year-old Joliet woman who was attending a prayer vigil for her missing relative, Jasmine Morrow, is now facing a formal criminal charge filed against her by the Will County State's Attorney's Office of James Glasgow. Konica Morrow was charged Aug. 20 with one count of obstructing a peace officer, a Class A misdemeanor.

The charge states that on July 9, "said defendant knowingly obstructed the performance of Joliet Police Department Officer Alan Vertin of an authorized act within his official capacity, being the investigation of Joshua Cooley, knowing Alan Vertin to be a peace officer engaged in the execution of his official duties, in that she walked toward Alan Vertin after being told to stay back."

During an interview in July following her arrest by Joliet Police Officer Adam Stapleton, who tackled her to the ground, Konica Morrow told Patch that his conduct left her with the impression he is a poorly trained patrol officer "who doesn't know how to deal with people.

"I want him charged with assault," she said. "He used excessive force for no reason. He's huge. He's really aggressive to people. Personally, he should be fired."

And last week, Joliet Congressional candidate Rachel Ventura told Patch she believes Officer Stapleton is one of the bad apples on the Joliet Police Department whose conduct continues to go unchecked by Police Chief Al Roechner, who needs to be replaced by the city council, according to Ventura.

She said she has watched the videos of the take down by Stapleton and in her opinion, Stapleton's tackling of Morrow was out of line.

"It did appear unprovoked," Ventura told Patch. "It appeared to be an abuse of power."

As for Konica Morrow, she has retained the services of one of Joliet's most notable criminal defense law firms, Chuck Bretz & Associates. That firm was successful on Tuesday, obtaining a not-guilty verdict in the first-degree murder retrial of client Jesus Zambrano of Joliet.