Cop's ticket nolle prossed

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
April 7, 2011

Remember back on February 7th, when the McHenry County Sheriff's Department reported on a rear-end crash caused by a Prairie Grove cop on February 4th?

In a media release signed by Sheriff Keith Nygren, who must have been in town that day, it was reported that the Prairie Grove officer, unnamed in the MCSD report, "was distracted by something inside the vehicle" and rear-ended a Chevy Suburban. At the time I wondered how innocuous the report was.

OK, so .... by what was the officer distracted? The in-car computer? Radio? Cell phone? Texting? What was going on inside the police car that the driver didn't see the Chevy Suburban? Did he spill his coffee? Drop his donut?

Although he wasn't named in the media release (why not???), the Northwest Herald carried his name, Paul McNamara. He was ticketed for Failure to Reduce Speed to Avoid an Accident, according to Nygren's release.

A bench trial was scheduled for yesterday, April 6. Imagine my surprise when I read in the online court record this morning that the case was nolle prossed. Why did the State decide not to prosecute him?

I could begin guessing, but I'll wait for my call to the State's Attorney's Office to be returned.