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Evergreen Park Police Respond to Gun For Pass on Ticket Claims
A story by Fox Chicago alleges that a man was offered the chance to get off on a ticket if he found a gun to give to Evergreen Park police.
A recent television report says that Evergreen Park Police offered a man driving on a suspended license a chance to get away cleanly, he just needed to find a gun to hand over.
Fox Chicago reporter Dane Placko says the man, Michael Holton, was found to have a suspended license after being pulled over on Tuesday, Jan. 8 for a burnt out license plate light. An officer from the tactical unit then offered him a deal. If he could produce a gun to hand over to the police they would let him off, the story claims.
Holton, an insurance salesman, claimed he does not own a gun, has no gang ties and was unclear why the police were putting pressure on him.
Dep. Police Chief Wayne Gutkowski disputed Holton's version of events to Patch on Friday.
Accorging to Gutkowski, it was Holton who first floated the idea of a deal asking, "If there was anything he could offer."
Gutkowski went on to say that the police officers are not in the business of making deals, they simply enforce already written laws. He added that if individuals produce information or tips to officers that cooperation might be passed along to prosecutors, however it would not get someone a free pass.
"We don't make deals," Gutkowski said.
No official investigation has been opened, because as of Friday morning Holton had not filed a complaint with the Evergreen Park Police Department.
"All we know is what we have seen on TV," Gutkowski said.
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cathie
9:59 am on Monday, January 14, 2013
maybe if he wasn't driving with a suspended license to begin with this whole thing wouldn't have been an issue.
Celeste
7:51 pm on Monday, January 14, 2013
I know for a fact that it is nearly impossible to file a complaint about an officer in Evergreen Park. Most of them are not deserving of complaints, but if there is a bad apple, there is not an unbiased person to complain to. If the Watch Commander does not agree with your complaint, he will charge you with filing a false report. It's easy to see that it is unlikely this man will be able to make a complaint. I agree he should not have been driving on a suspended license, but that does not make him a liar about the situation.