Alderman Beat a Raccoon to Death With Tire Iron

WAUKEGAN, IL - A Waukegan City Councilman used a tire iron to beat a sick raccoon to death last month then stuffed it in a box and washed away its blood from the sidewalk with a hose.

“As an alderman, I do have police powers,” Larry TenPas, the city’s 6th Ward alderman who has held the office for 40 years, told the Lake County News-Sun. “It’s not like a citizen doing it, but when somebody calls me, I come. I take care of problems. Why do you think I’ve been alderman for 40 years?”

Waukegan resident Carol Alleman said she observed the attack on Nov. 14. She was the first to call Animal Control after noticing the animal was looking sick on a sidewalk. According to the News-Sun, she had planned to stay with the raccoon until police arrived, but before she had the chance to get outside she saw TenPas “whaling” on the raccoon.

“I saw him hit it 12 times at least,” said Alleman. “The raccoon was suffering. It was trying to get away from him and it wasn’t able to. … I was sickened.”

Alleman then saw TenPas, 81, attempt to put the animal in a box, but “it was still twitching,” so he beat it a few more times before washing its blood from the sidewalk with a hose.

An Animal Control officer noted in a report of the incident: “I was able to observe several bloody pieces of the raccoon scattered on the sidewalk.”

Waukegan Police Cmdr. Joseph Florip said TenPas does not hold the required state permit to handle wildlife, but that the longtime city representative will not be charged in the incident.

“We take animals in this community very seriously,” Florip said. “The use of force is always an unpleasant experience.”

Mayor Wayne Motley agreed that aldermen are not authorized to take care of nuisance animals. Motley supported TenPas in this incident, however, since he felt it was an emergency.

According to TenPas, he was just doing his job. He told the News-Sun he was “concerned about the safety of the kids in the neighborhood,” since he assumed the raccoon had rabies.

Bob Bluett, wildlife biologist with the state DNR, said “the last case we had of a raccoon with rabies was 20 to 30 years ago,” and getting rid of nuisance wildlife requires a permit.

“We certainly recognize that wildlife can be a problem,” he said. “Under these particular circumstances, a person (with a permit) could take a raccoon out of season, although a tire iron is not a recommended method of euthanasia, but could be allowable under the circumstances.”

“I thought, I can take care of it. I take care of many problems in my ward,” TenPas said, but did note that he should have “done it a little differently.”

It’s more likely this were a case of distemper, Bluett said, which does not harm humans or pets.

“One blow. One did it, dear,” TenPas told a News-Sun reporter, but later said he hit the animal “maybe two or three times” before stuffing it in a box for disposal.

Alleman is now afraid of TenPas, claiming he intimidated her after she made a police report about the incident by driving slowly by her house later in the day, staring at her from inside his car.

TenPas was an IHSA state champion wrestler for Waukegan High School in the early 1950s and later wrestled for the University of Illinois. He is a member of the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame.

more via the Lake County News-Sun