Joliet Police Whistleblower Charged With Misconduct In Lurry Case

JOLIET, IL — For people in the Joliet area who are sad and angry that Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner orchestrated criminal charges against one of his own, a whistleblower in a federal lawsuit against the Joliet Police Department, Sgt. Javier "Butch" Esqueda's criminal defense lawyer says good things will happen to Esqueda in the end.

Lawyer Jeff Tomczak of The Tomczak Law Group predicted a total vindication of Esqueda in the criminal justice system at the Kendall County Courthouse in Yorkville. Tomczak also predicted that Esqueda will get a goldmine - from the taxpayers of Joliet and Illinois — as a result of a future federal lawsuit that Esqueda is now certain to file against the city of Joliet and the Joliet Police Department of Chief Roechner.

"What is most sad about this is that this is a clear message from Chief Roechner to the frontline officers that should they see actions they believe are misconduct by fellow officers, they must keep their mouths shut and stay quiet or they will be charged with a felony," Tomczak told Joliet Patch's editor on Wednesday evening.

"I also have no doubt in my mind that these charges were shopped around and Will County prosecutors declined, as they should, so they went shopping in Kendall County and were able to find a prosecutor to file these bad charges."

Tomczak rarely predicts his own success during interviews with Joliet Patch or other news media outlets on a brand new case, but he did on Wednesday.

"I am anticipating winning and I am anticipating this case ends with a big fat federal judgment against the city of Joliet and every officer involved in these charges," Tomczak assured Joliet Patch.

(Joliet Patch article continues below this photo of attorneys Patti Kalkanas and Jeff Tomczak.)

Joliet Police Sgt. Javier "Butch" Esqueda has maintained that he uncovered corruption involving fellow members of the Joliet Police Department back in late January in connection with the in-custody death of Eric Lurry. But over the past few months, the administration of Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner has made it clear that Esqueda would be the one facing discipline regarding his choice to leak video tape information about the Black man's death to Chicago's CBS television station.

On Wednesday, Esqueda was charged with official misconduct. The criminal complaint was submitted by a high-ranking member of Roechner's administration, Lt. Joe Egizio. However, the charges were filed several miles away from the Will County Courthouse, that way the office of Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow would have no role in the prosecution.

Instead, Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis filed the two counts of official misconduct against Esqueda, who lives in the Plainfield area and is 51 years old.

On Wednesday afternoon, all of Chicago's TV stations, plus Joliet Patch, covered a news conference held outside Joliet City Hall that featured several people pushing for reform at the Joliet Police Department including the resignation of Chief Al Roechner.

(Joliet Patch article continues below this image of Stringer Harris.)

"We want answers. We want to know why this sergeant who is deemed to others a hero and deemed to others as a person who committed a crime," Harris declared.

He said that Eric Lurry died in Joliet police custody on Jan. 29 and "for the next five months, police withheld information from the lawyer, from his wife. After numerous FOIAs were put in to get information, and they never received any type of information that a video, that a camera, was available for anybody to take a look at.

"The police instructed officers to turn off the vocals in the car. They held Eric Lurry's nose for a minute and thirty-eight seconds while they stuck an asp baton down his throat. Sgt. Javier Esqueda was put on administrative leave back in July and he was under investigation for tampering with evidence."

Harris said he had a question that he wanted to present to the Joliet Police Department, namely the chief of Joliet.

"When crimes are presented, you ask the community questions, you ask them and you plead with them, if you see something to say something. And you get the opportunity where an officer saw something, and he said something, and now he's being brought up on charges. He's being retaliated against."

Harris also wanted Joliet Patch readers and Chicago TV viewers to realize that he knows "there's good cops out here and we seen one, Joliet Police Department have one, they probably have several, but this bully tactic that the chief used on today, to show you, you better shut up, you better do what's right, or you could be next, is not acceptable."

Ernest Crim, high school teacher, author and leader of the Joliet chapter of Gatekeepers, was also displeased with Wednesday's news of misconduct charges against Sgt. Esqueda.

"The decision to fire and charge Javier Esqueda, rather than pursue charges against the officers involved with Eric Lurry's death are indicative of Chief Al Roechner's incompetence as the chief of police," Crim informed Joliet Patch.

"His leadership has helped create a wider divide between the community and the police and it is my belief that his complicity in ensuring that our community doesn't get justice is indicative of the flawed system he proudly represents. How can we trust him to make the best decisions when he has a track record of mistreating Black and Hispanic officers through retaliatory arrests and firings? What recourse do officers like Esqueda have when they want to report injustices they witness, after seeing this?"

(Joliet Patch article continues below this image of Ernest Crim's social justice book.)

Crim also said the timing of the charges were suspect given that Eric Lurry's widow, Nicole, has announced her intentions to run for one of the three at-large Joliet City Council openings in the April 6 elections. Nicole Lurry made her formal announcement at Wednesday's news conference outside City Hall to discuss Esqueda's charges.

"To make this decision nearly a week after Nicole Lurry's announcement to run for City Council is a bold slap in the face," Crim said. "He should step down immediately, for the good of the Joliet community."

After the news conference ended, the Joliet Police Department issued a statement from Chief Roechner that read: “It is the mission of the Joliet Police Department to maintain the highest levels of integrity and professionalism. Sgt. Esqueda’s conduct violates not only the law, more importantly, it threatens the trust and confidence we strive for daily in our service to the citizens of Joliet. Any negative actions reach far beyond one person, as it affects every member of our organization as well as our law enforcement partners.

"I want to express my appreciation to the members of the Joliet Police Department who continue to provide exemplary policing service to our city on a daily basis. I also wish to thank Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis for reviewing this case and coming to an independent conclusion regarding Sgt. Esqueda’s actions.”

According to Kendall County jail records, Esqueda's bail was set at $50,000, meaning he'd have to pay $5,000 — 10 percent — to be released. He's scheduled to appear in Kendall County court Thursday afternoon.

The complaint states that on June 10, Esqueda "knowingly performed an act with he knew to be forbidden by law to perform in that he used the laptop in his Joliet Police Department squad car while not on duty to access the Joliet Police Department WatchGuard system to view a video file which was locked and he did so while in a motor vehicle which passed through Kendall County. All of the foregoing occurred in Kendall County, Illinois."

According to Esqueda's lawyer Jeff Tomczak of the Tomczak Law Group, Tomczak will be issuing a statement later in the day. Tomczak said that the Joliet Police Department not only did the investigation of one of their own, but Chief Roechner's administration chose to arrest Esqueda at the Joliet Police Station on Wednesday.

Esqueda has said the video tapes from the Joliet Police Department parking lot from late January reveal that fellow officers involved in the death of Lurry intentionally tampered with evidence, turning off the squad car's audio system as Lurry was dying in the backseat of the squad car.

On Aug. 4, Joliet Patch reported that Sgt. Esqueda, a 27-year veteran of the Joliet Police force, received a memo from Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner notifying him that he was being removed from his regular duties as a field training officer for new recruits. Instead, Esqueda was reassigned to administrative desk duty for an undetermined period.

"You shall exercise no powers including off-duty police details with respect to your position as a police officer nor shall you have, in your possession, any identification indicating that you are a Joliet police officer or carry a firearm," the memo from Roechner states.
"You are ordered to immediately relinquish your take home police vehicle, police identification cards, badge and firearm."

A prominent Chicago law firm has since filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against Joliet Police Sgt. Doug May and the Joliet Police Department in connection with Lurry's Jan. 29 death. That lawsuit praises Sgt. Esqueda for being a brave whistleblower for coming forward.

On Wednesday night, CBS Chicago investigative reporter Dave Savini produced the following report from the courthouse in Yorkville regarding the criminal charges against Sgt. Esqueda.

Savini reported that Esqueda told him that even though he now faces two counts of official misconduct, "he would do it all again for Eric Lurry's family and for justice."

Related Joliet Patch coverage: Joliet Police Caused Eric Lurry's Death: Federal Lawsuit