Memo Outlines Why Will Co. Sheriff Fired Deputy Schwartz

JOLIET, IL — A memo obtained by Joliet Patch outlines the reasons why two-term Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley chose to fire sheriff's deputy Andrew "Andy" Schwartz more than a year after an off-duty incident on Joliet's west side resulted in a head-on involving two other motorists.

The sheriff's April 21 memo indicates that Schwartz was being disciplined for conduct unbecoming, conformance to laws, adherence to directives and altercations.

"This incident was investigated by the Joliet Police Department and you were subsequently criminally indicted Dec. 8. 2021 for one felony count of aggravated reckless driving/bodily harm," Kelley wrote Schwartz. "The disciplinary action is a discharge."

Last year, special prosecutor Bill Elward presented evidence to the Will County grand jury that led to the criminal indictment for the 38-year-old Schwartz.

Schwartz, who has remained free on bond, appeared before Will County Judge Dave Carlson last week for a pretrial hearing. The judge rejected a motion from Joliet criminal defense attorney Jeff Tomczak to dismiss the criminal indictment against his client.

"Deputy Schwartz was a victim of aggravated battery and road rage and someone leaving the scene of an accident," Tomczak told Joliet Patch last December.

Schwartz's criminal case has been set for a trial in early June.