Lyons Investigation Involves Elected Official Who Was Briefly Detained: Official

LYONS, IL – A top Lyons official said Wednesday that the village's police are continuing an investigation that involves an elected library board member.

At the village's Fourth of July festivities, police officers briefly detained library board member Richard O'Brien.

At the time, O'Brien said he was criticizing Lyons Mayor Christopher Getty, who is running for Congress as an independent.

A month ago, Patch filed a public records request for the police report and video of the incident.

In a response Wednesday, Village Manager Thomas Sheahan said the police have no report because O'Brien was released without being arrested.

For the video, though, Sheahan cited an exception to the state's open records law that allows police to keep records under unwraps if their release would interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation.

"The requested recordings concern events presently being investigated and contain information gathered and preserved as part of that investigation," Sheahan said.

Disclosure, he said, could reveal evidence that would compromise the integrity of witness or participant interviews.

Asked about the denial Thursday, O'Brien said, "What are they investigating? There's nothing to investigate."

He said he would like "the world to see" the video.

In an interview last month, O'Brien said he had been drinking before he was detained, but broke no laws, saying he was polite.

On Aug. 5, Patch filed a records request for the police report. A couple of days later, Sheahan asked whether Patch wanted the video of the July 4 encounter and another one involving O'Brien that occurred around the same time.

Patch added the video to the request.

A few days after that, O'Brien said he was asked to go to Village Hall to speak with officials. He said he met with Sheahan, village attorney Martin Stack and Norberto Cisneros, the mayor's executive assistant.

O'Brien said he was asked to leave his phone with an employee outside the meeting room.

"They didn't want me to record it," he said.

They then played the video of the two incidents. He said they told him that a library trustee shouldn't act like he was seen in the video. They said he was drunk and obnoxious.

O'Brien said they handed him a prepared resignation letter and asked him to sign it, but he refused.

About the video, he said the officials told him they would be happy to see it released, even on CNN.

Since then, O'Brien has publicly called for the video's release.