Oak Lawn Man Pleads Not Guilty to Threat Charges in Joe Gliniewicz Case

Retired Chicago police officer Joseph Battaglia, 54, now of Oak Lawn, pleaded not guilty to charges he threatened Lake County authorities investigating the shooting death of Fox Lake Police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz. | Lake County Sheriff

The Oak Lawn man accused of threatening Lake County authorities investigating the death of disgraced Fox Lake Police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz pleaded not guilty in Lake County court on Thursday.

Authorities said Joseph A. Battaglia, a retired Chicago police officer, called the Lake County Coroner’s Office on Sept. 11 and threatened to harm all the of the task force members investigating the shooting death of Gliniewicz, unless Gliniewicz’s death was ruled a suicide.

At the time, just days into the investigation, Gliniewicz’s death was being investigated as a homicide.

During the call, the suspect identified himself as a “retired police officer,” Patch reported. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division traced the calls to Battaglia and learned he was a retired Chicago police officer, Lake County Sheriff’s Office Detective Christopher Covelli said of Battaglia’s arrest.

“Battaglia has had zero involvement in the investigation of Lt. Gliniewicz,” Covelli said.

The threats included other investigators, coroner’s office employees as well as Coroner Thomas Rudd and Lake County Major Crime Task Force Commander George Filenko, according to media reports. Filenko heads the Lake County Major Crime Task Force leading the investigation into Gliniewicz’s death.

Battaglia was arrested at his home in the 5600 block of West 103rd Street in Oak Lawn the day the alleged calls were placed. He has been charged with two class 4 felony counts of harassment by telephone and disorderly conduct and assigned a $100,000 bail in Lake County.

Last week, authorities announced that Gliniewicz staged his death in an elaborate ruse to make it look like a homicide. The troubled Fox Lake police officer took his own life after years of stealing from a youth police program he ran.

Lake County authorities said Battaglia’s phone records also showed the retired Chicago cop communicated with news organizations and media outlets during the same time period. Some of the media outlets reported information they received on the investigation from anonymous sources. It’s not known if Battaglia was one of the “sources” media outlets had quoted in the days following Gliniewicz’s staged suicide.

The Daily Herald reported that Battaglia’s attorney, Myron Goldstin, is negotiating with prosecutors to try to resolve the matter before the case goes to trial.

Goldstin termed the case against his client “a very minor collateral issue” compared to the larger brewing scandal of the Fox Lake’s officer death, news reports said.