Crest Hill Cop's Paid Suspension Has Already Cost $20,000

CREST HILL, IL - This marks the fourteenth consecutive week that the taxpayers of Crest Hill are paying one of their overnight patrol officers, Felipe "Phil" Flores, his regular salary to stay away from his job of protecting and serving the public. Flores, now in his seventh year with Crest Hill, makes an annual base salary of $80,000. He was the boyfriend of Wescom 911 dispatcher Samantha Harer. On Tuesday morning, Feb. 13, the Crest Hill officer, who was accused of raping a sleeping Crest Hill resident in March 2016, called 911 claiming Harer, 23, had shot herself while in his presence at her tiny apartment in the village of Channahon.

To this day, Harer's suspicious death remains under investigation. Consequently, Crest Hill Police Chief Ed Clark, who was not directly responsible for hiring Flores in 2012, has kept Flores on paid leave. During a phone interview last week, Clark said that nothing has changed as far as Flores' employment status. He's still on paid leave, and Clark said he was not able to estimate a time frame as far as when that may change.

Clark said that his department has been adjust its regular patrol schedule so that Flores' absence has not been a detriment to the community.

In 2016, Joliet Patch has already reported, Flores spent considerable time on paid leave from the Crest Hill Police Department as well. Before he met Harer and began dating her, Flores was accused of sexually assaulting a 30-year-old sleeping woman, reports obtained from a Freedom of Information Act request show.

Now, in this latest incident involving Flores, a Joliet resident who hopes to work someday for the Joliet Police Department, reports indicate, he has collected more than $20,000 since Feb. 13. That was the date his younger girlfriend, Samantha Harer, died from a single gunshot wound to her head inside her Channahon apartment while Flores was present.

Harer's parents have indicated that their daughter had no history of depression, no suicidal tendencies and there was no suicide note. Harer was considered one of the most durable 911 dispatchers. She graduated from the University of St. Francis in Joliet in 2016 and had previously interned at the Channahon Police Department.

As for Flores, before being hired at Crest Hill's Police Department in 2012, he had no prior police experience. He spent eight years in the Marine Corps. He did not attend college.

"Congratulations on the successful completion of your probation as a Crest Hill police officer on September 22, 2012," now-retired Police Chief Dwayne Wilkerson wrote to Flores in a letter copied to Crest Hill Mayor Ray Solimon.

"I look forward to your future contributions and accomplishments as a Crest Hill police officer."

However, before being hired by Chief Wilkerson, Flores had struggled to hold down steady employment around the Joliet area, a review of his work history suggests.

The following employment records were obtained by Joliet Patch as part of a public records request to Crest Hill related to Flores' employment files:

• From May 2003 through June 2005, Flores worked general maintenance at CPX Sports on Schweitzer Road in Joliet making $8.75 per hour. Flores left that job upon being activated for deployment in Iraq.

• From December 2006 to January 2009, Flores worked in food distribution, operating a forklift at Interstate Warehousing on Joliet's McDonough Street. He picked up orders and shipped products. He made $14.25 per hour. But he got laid off.

• May 2009 through August 2009 Flores worked in Joliet at Neptune Pools, making $10 per hour at the pool construction company. He performed general maintenance. But he got laid off.

• At the time he filled out his job application with Crest Hill's Police Department, Flores worked at the Petco Warehouse on Joliet's Olympic Boulevard. He began in October 2009 and was still employed when he applied to become a police officer, his resume noted. He made $12 per hour at the Joliet warehouse where he performed auditing and ordered pallets.

One of the questions on his Crest Hill job application asked Flores whether his driver's license was ever suspended or revoked.

He checked the box for "yes."

"License was suspended in 2009 for three months. Insurance was lapsed while in Iraq during my deployment.." Flores wrote on his officer application form.

This February, former Crest Hill resident Kristen Kurtz gave Joliet Patch permission to publish her name regarding the rape allegation she lodged against the Crest Hill officer in 2016.

She was 30 at the time and has since moved away from the area.

Police reports Patch has obtained reflect that "Kristen M. Kurtz stated Phillip Flores had come to the bar and they began a conversation about their past being roommates that had ended badly and (Phil) wanted to apologize for some of his behavior towards her ... Kristen stated that once they finished up at Bobbie's Tap ... Phil Flores told her he would follow her home also to make sure she made it back ... Kristen Kurtz stated that once she was home she passed out in her bed and awoke sometime later to find a male, later identified as Phillip Flores, sexually assaulting, laying on top of her. Kristen Kurtz related that when she first woke up, she was still groggy and at first thought it was a dream ... but then realized that it was not a dream, that it was Phillip Flores and told him to get off of her, that she told him "No," that he was not do this to her.

"Kristen Kurtz advised that Phillip Flores complained to her that now he has 'blue (testicles)' and she told him that it was not her problem and to leave her residence," Crest Hill's police reports show.

"Kristen Kurtz advised that she wanted to complete a formal complaint and a sexual assault charge against Officer Flores, whom she has never had a sexual encounter with while they were roommates or since they parted ways. Kristen Kurtz stated that she has known Phillip Flores since high school and he took advantage of her intoxicated condition to sexually assault her at her home on February 6, 2016."

Patch reported last week that Crest Hill Police asked the Illinois State Police District 5 to investigate the rape allegation to avoid a conflict of interest. Months later, the Will County State's Attorney's Office informed State Police that criminal charges would not be filed against the officer unless more evidence developed.

Other exclusive Joliet Patch stories surrounding Samantha Harer's suspicious death:

RELATED: 911 Dispatcher's Death Unsolved 12 Weeks Later

RELATED: Samantha Harer's Death Still Open 7 Weeks Later

RELATED: Minooka Parents Still Kept In Dark

RELATED: John Ferak Appears On WJOL To Discuss Samantha Harer Case

Images via Kevin and Heather Harer