Western Springs Official In Hit-and-Run?

OAK BROOK, IL – Days before resigning late last month, interim Western Springs Police Chief Terry Mee faced an allegation that he was involved in a hit-and-run crash with a village vehicle.

In Oak Brook, a 60-year-old woman told officers that the driver of the car in front of her at a red light backed up and hit her car, according to an Oak Brook police report obtained through a public records request.

The driver was later identified as Mee, who is also a former Oak Brook interim police chief.

Police said they found no evidence a crash occurred.

The woman said the crash happened about 6 p.m. Nov. 29 on the northbound ramp from Route 83 to 31st Street.

Earlier that day, Patch reported that Mee was resigning after three weeks as interim chief. He had two days left.

According to the police report, the woman said she got out of her car after the crash and took a picture of the license plate, which was for the village vehicle that Mee drove.

An officer said in his report that he could find no visible damage to the woman's car. The woman said she, too, saw no damage, but was concerned about damage to the internal frame, police said.

The woman told police that no one got out of the other vehicle, but she believed it was a police officer that struck her, police said. Mee's black Ford Explorer had municipal license plates.

Mee confirmed to Oak Brook police that he remembered being at the light, but did not go in reverse and strike another car, according to the report.

Police said they could find no "discernible" damage to the village vehicle, other than "spider-web-style scratches" on the plastic trailer hitch cover.

Police said that based on Mee's statements and the lack of damage to the woman's car, they were unable to determine if the existing damage was caused Nov. 29.

Patch also sought documents from the village of Western Springs about the incident.

On Wednesday, the village informed Patch it would extend the deadline by another five business days. It said it could not comply with the request within five business days "without unduly burdening or interfering with our operations."

The village said it would need to collect several specific records and enlist its attorney to determine which information could be legally withheld.

The letter to Patch was copied to Village Manager Ellen Baer, Deputy Village Manager Casey Biernacki, Deputy Police Chief Ashlee Niezgoda, Communications Manager Selmin Cicek, and attorneys Michael Jurusik and Mallory Milluzzi.