Ex-Joliet Police Lieutenant Charged In Kendall County

JOLIET, IL - A veteran Joliet Police Department lieutenant who left the department under a cloud of suspicion last November has been charged with a total of six criminal offenses out of neighboring Kendall County. Kendall County officials informed Joliet Patch that Dennis McWherter has been charged with two counts of official misconduct, two counts of possession of controlled substances, one theft and one charge of obtaining a substance by fraud.

McWherter left the Joliet Police Department in November. Joliet Patch previously reported that McWherter made $155,242 while employed with Joliet in 2018, after making $146,645 in 2017.

The criminal complaint indicates that McWherter's alleged criminal offenses occurred in late October, which is when he still worked at the Joliet Police Department.

Joliet Police issued a statement on Friday that read: "A few weeks ago the Kendall County State's Attorney's Office contacted the Joliet Police Department in reference to an ongoing investigation involving a former city of Joliet employee. The Joliet Police Department cooperated fully with their request. Since this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further."

Kendall County officials told Patch that a warrant was issued for McWherter's arrest a week ago today, March 22, but he has not been taken into custody. His bail was set by the court at $30,000, which means he needs $3,000 to avoid spending time in Yorkville's detention facility.

A story by Bob Okon in The Joliet-Herald News states that McWherter is suspected of stealing opioids from a drug drop box kept at the Joliet Police Department's West substation which is located on Caton Farm Road, inside the boundaries of Kendall County.

Late Friday afternoon, Joliet Patch interviewed McWherter's private criminal defense counsel, Jeff Tomczak of The Tomczak Law Group.

Tomczak told Patch that McWherter has already posted bond and is allowed to remain free, pending his first appearance at the Kendall County Courthouse in Yorkville on April 15.

"Given the fact that Dennis McWherter has served both his nation in Iraq and on the streets of Joliet for so many years, if anybody deserves the benefit of the doubt, Dennis does," Tomczak told Joliet Patch.

According to his LinkedIn profile, McWherter worked for the Joliet Police Department 24 years and three months. He also served in the U.S. Army as a military officer, retiring in 2017. He began his career in law enforcement at the Will County Sheriff's Office in 1988.

McWherter's LinkedIn page refers to him as being a retired Joliet Police Department lieutenant.