Posted on 11/04/2015 8:13:15 AM PST by GIdget2004
Lake County officials who eulogized Fox Lake Police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz as a hero in the days after he died from a fatal gunshot wound, said Wednesday evidence now shows he staged his death as an apparent homicide to cover years of financial exploitation of the police Explorers post he oversaw.
George Filenko, commander of the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, called Gliniewicz's actions the "ultimate betrayal" that included intentionally leaving a staged trail of police equipment at the crime scene in an attempt to mislead police to believe his death was a homicide.
Filenko made the comments during an exclusive Daily Herald interview before a news conference to announce the investigation's findings that Gliniewicz took a large sum of money from Fox Lake Explorer Post 300. Thousands of dollars was used by Gliniewicz for personal purchases, including travel expenses, mortgage payments, gym memberships, adult websites, facilitating personal loans and unaccounted cash withdrawals, Filenko said.
"There are no winners here," Filenko said. "Gliniewicz committed the ultimate betrayal to the citizens he served and the entire law enforcement community. The facts of his actions prove he behaved for years in a manner completely contrary to the image he portrayed.
Filenko said Gliniewicz was using the Explorer fund "as his personal bank account." He added that $250,000 flowed through the account over seven years, and investigators estimated Gliniewicz took about "five figures."
Electronic messages deleted from Gliniewicz's personal and work cellphones helped investigators crack the case, Filenko said.
Filenko said Gliniewicz elaborately staged a conflict with three unknown offenders because he wanted to go out "a hero." Gliniewicz took his .40-caliber weapon, pointed it at his chest and pulled the trigger in a swampy area at the east end of Honing Road in Fox Lake.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailyherald.com ...
His timing was perfect. He staged his suicide right in the middle of the national discussion about the war on cops.
He wasn’t thinking about his family or any war on cops. They found his gun nearly immediately and then they broadcasted his gun was missing. It was all a media whitewash put out by the cops themselves.
Sickening. I had friends mention within days that they believed it was a suicide. I’m glad the facts finally came out. Sorry for his wife and kids and all those who lined up to pay tribute to this dolt.
Did the family cash his life insurance check?
Do you think the wife noticed the extra $250,000 in his bank account?
This retired cop, just as many others knew that it was a suicide.
An ABC7 I-Team Report
WLS
By Chuck Goudie
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
CHICAGO (WLS) —
A former Chicago police officer called the ABC7 I-Team shortly after he allegedly threatened officials investigating the death of a Fox Lake police lieutenant. Ex-Chicago patrolman Joey Battaglia made bond late Tuesday, even though a Lake County judge had refused to lower his bail earlier in the day.
Battaglia was a Chicago police officer for 25 years, albeit one who retired under the cloud of a corruption investigation. According to Battaglia’s attorney, he merely wanted Lake County authorities to release more information about the high-profile investigation of Lt. Joe Gliniewicz’s shooting death. But how authorities say he went about that has landed him behind bars with bond set at $100,000 for two counts of felony disorderly conduct.
“I know it was never his intention to harm anyone,” says Myron Goldstin, Battaglia’s attorney.
But harm is just what authorities say Battaglia did threaten last Friday.
Battaglia is accused of calling the office of Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd - and in alleged threats punctuated by profanity - he’s accused of saying he would harm Rudd, Lake County Major Crimes Task Force Chief George Filenko and all the members of task force unless the death of Lt. Gliniewicz was declared a suicide.
Twenty minutes after allegedly making that call, authorities say Battaglia called some media, including leaving a much calmer message left for the I-Team.
“Hello Mr. Goudie, if you have a chance give me a call,” the voicemail said. “Joey Battaglia. I’m a retired, young Chicago police officer...”
Investigators say he blocked his phone number when making the threats, but he provided his number to us.
“My number - I’ll give you my cell,” the message said. “Don’t give out my phone number to anybody unless they are pretty girls from California on the beach. Alright, I look forward to talkin’ to you.”
“Mr. Battaglia is a 25-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department, he retired in 2012, he has no criminal background whatsoever,” Goldstin says.
No criminal history, but the I-Team has learned that Battaglia actually retired three years ago after he was suspended when police internal affairs found he had offered confiscated marijuana to a restaurant employee, and at the time police sources say he resigned rather than face a more serious, further investigation.
On the voicemail, Battaglia said nothing about Fox Lake and no one from the I-Team ever spoke with him. He was arrested at his home in Oak Lawn on Saturday. One of the men he allegedly threatened, task force commander George Filenko, was in court for Tuesday’s hearing but left out a side door without taking questions. The case of Lt. Gliniewicz remains unsolved, with no known suspects.
Related Topics:
http://abc7chicago.com/news/ex-officer-calls-i-team-following-alleged-fox-lake-threat/986230/
Riiiiiight. Time to up your meds a bit.
The honorable course of action would have been to admit guilt, make full restitution, and accept judicial punishment.
Throw his wife in prison for insurance fraud.
I bet Obama himself cooked up this scheme.
Sheeeiiiit.
S’all.
Do psych evals portend someone becoming corrupt?
a bad gut? yup’ looked fishy from the get go, but 10 grand over seven years ain’t even cigarette money
You can always fake it.
I wondered the same thing in regards to the life insurance. I haven’t paid close enough attention, which is amazing as it’s all over print and tv here, but somehow that tidbit hasn’t surfaced to my knowledge.
Police Departments don't want that kind of cop.
I took the tests for a Police Department and passed everything, including the lugging a 250-lb. person to safety.
I passed the psychological test too. It was a very, very long test. When I spoke with the Psychologist, after about five minutes he said that I had passed the test. "Stable Mable."
I was turned down for the department and was invited back to speak with the Lieutenant in charge. He said that I scored too high in the I.Q. test. It was their experience, he said, that folks with too high an I.Q. got bored with the job after a while and quit.
There was no way I could promise that I wouldn't get bored. My mother thought it was because I was female; my husband thought it was my age. Then I told them what the Lieutenant said and they admitted that he was probably correct.
My husband only worried if I had the guts to shoot someone down. He taught me to shoot. My target, at the time, was Osama bin Laden's beard. Lol. I got pretty good at nailing his throat.
I did all my shooting with a Beretta. It fit my hand. Although I am tall, my hands and feet are rather small for my size. Anyway, I shot that a-hole with precision and satisfaction every time.
Ya got me. I don't know. The psych test I took was VERY long and it asked me everything that you could imagine. I told the absolute truth, so they knew exactly how I thought about many things.
I believe that the experts can see things that I wouldn't normally predict. The psychologists for cops have a lot of experience, so it's my GUESS that they could predict such things as stress levels, attitudes, commitment, right-wrong and such. But that's just a guess.
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