Citizen first, cop second

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
October 11, 2010

Why is it important to elect a sheriff of McHenry County who is a Citizen First, Cop Second?

A small matter ($5,300) tells voters exactly the kind of sheriff McHenry County has had for the past 13 years.

On July 13, 2008, a deputy started a U-turn off the shoulder of U.S. 12 outside Richmond and struck the right side of a passing car. A simple matter; right? Just pay for the damage and be done with it.

Instead, the crash report was falsified and placed the blame on the woman driver, not on the deputy. At the time a number of deputies were upset about this, and they haven't forgotten it.

The crash was not investigated by an outside agency. A MCSD sergeant, who was the supervisor of the deputy driver who caused the crash, wrote the crash report. The driver's attempts to reach that sergeant were unsuccessful.

Moving up the food chain at MCSD, the driver had no success. Even the then-undersheriff, Gene Lowery, refused to have the crash report corrected. Sheriff Keith Nygren refused to answer communications from the driver. The County Administrator refused to intervene.

The County's insurance claims administrator refused to pay the woman's claim, because the crash report indicated she was at fault as the driver of Unit 1. Well, if she was at fault, how come she didn't get a ticket? Why didn't the County ask her to pay for the damage to the deputy's squad car?

Because she was NOT at fault!

But stone-walling worked. The woman eventually gave up. I urged her to sue the Sheriff's Department, but the $151 filing fee was a hurdle. I suggested she ask the court to waive the filing fee, but she decided not to buck the system further.

If I am elected Sheriff on Nov. 2, this will not happen again.

If a deputy causes a crash, MCSD will pay. Without a fight. Without a delay. Oh, yes; and the deputy will get a ticket.