Elk Grove Village suspends police officer for March chase

The Village of Elk Grove Fire and Police Commission voted Thursday to suspend a police officer for up to 30 days without pay, pending a hearing next month, for his conduct during a March 12 chase.

Officer Daniel Johnson has been on leave since March 22 while police investigate the case. The allegations were presented to the commission on May 16 by Police Chief David Dorn, who was sworn in as the village’s top police officer on April 1.

Details about the chase and Johnson’s actions were not discussed publicly Thursday, and village officials declined to provide further details after the commission adjourned.

Municipal Attorney Yvette Heintzelman described the allegations as “serious charges.”

“He violated numerous department policies that he had already violated in 2019,” she said. “When asked about it, he was not very forthcoming about what he told the village.”

Johnson’s representative, Keith Karlson, an attorney with the Metropolitan Alliance of Police, called the case “very defensible” based on the video and audio evidence.

“We think it’s unfair to deprive someone of pay and fine them before hearing a single fact that’s been proven,” Karlson added of the commission’s decision to suspend Johnson before a hearing. “To suspend him without pay pending the outcome of that hearing is unfair.”

In addition to the suspension decision, the commission ordered the township to provide Johnson’s attorneys with the 10-year disciplinary history of Elk Grove Township police officers.

“I don’t know if we want to make this public,” Heintzelman said, suggesting replacing the names in the documents with some kind of code.

“It’s something I’d like to discuss, but I’m not obligated to,” Karlson said, adding that the documents are subject to public records law.

“I want the documents as soon as possible so we can get started on June 11,” he added.