Post by Site Admin on Sept 13, 2005 5:43:00 GMT -5
Publication Northwest Herald
Date June 03, 2005
Section(s) Main
Page
By KRISTEN TURNER and JEFF GARD
kturner@nwherald.com / jgard@nwherald.com
WOODSTOCK – A McHenry County grand jury on Thursday charged a police officer and two former police officers with the violent handcuffing and beating of a man Feb. 20 outside a bar in Fox Lake.
A female friend of the officers' also was charged.
The grand jury charged former Richmond police Officer Brian L. Quilici, 33; Spring Grove police Officer Ronald N. Pilati, 33; former Lincolnshire police Officer Jerome M. Volstad, 41; and Jessica Thelen, 28, with aggravated battery.
The four also were charged with conspiring to lie to investigators by telling them that victim Ryan Hallett, now 26, was the aggressor.
Testimony to the grand jury began May 19 and ended Thursday morning. Among those who testified before the grand jury were eyewitnesses, some of whom were afraid at times to come forward, prosecutors said.
"It is certainly a breach of public trust; police officers are looked upon as guardians of the peace," said Robert Beaderstadt, criminal division chief for the McHenry County state's attorney's office. "And when they violate the law, we take these charges very seriously."
Hallett, a Spring Grove-area resident, was beaten so badly that he nearly lost an eye, his lawyers and his family said.
The indictment accuses Quilici, Pilati and Volstad of forcing Hallett to the ground outside KC's Cabin, a bar in Fox Lake, where they handcuffed his hands behind his back. Hallett was kicked in the head and the groin, according to the indictment.
None of the officers was on duty at the time of the alleged attack.
State police officers were looking for Quilici on Thursday evening. Pilati and Thelen were released after he posted 10 percent of his $250,000 bond and she posted 10 percent of her $30,000 bond. Volstad remained in custody at the McHenry County Jail.
In March, Hallett filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against the officers, Thelen, and the villages of Spring Grove and Richmond. He seeks unspecified damages.
"In our firm's experience, prosecutors all too often decline to prosecute if the aggressor happens to be a police officer," Jon Loevy and Russell Ainsworth, Hallett's lawyers, said Thursday in a written statement.
Prosecutors said Hallett and a co-worker argued with the three men and Thelen inside the bar in the early-morning hours of Feb. 20. The argument ended, and Hallett walked his friend to his car, then turned to go to his own car when he saw the three men and Thelen walking toward him, prosecutors said.
"From all indications, it appears that Ryan Hallett felt threatened by these men," Beaderstadt said.
Hallett pulled out a small penknife, with about a 11/2-inch blade, to defend himself, Beaderstadt said, and told the four that he wanted to leave.
"They surrounded him," Beaderstadt said.
Marlene Hallett, Ryan Hallett's mother, said Thursday that the attackers handcuffed her son and beat him with a second pair of handcuffs. They then dragged him by the handcuffs through the mud.
"What's the difference between beating him with handcuffs and taking out a hammer and beating him?" Marlene Hallett asked. "He came within a hair of losing his vision. Let me tell you the extent of this fracture. Ryan had no bottom to his eye. There was a big hole there. They had to put in an implant to keep his eye in place. The doctor said it was the worst he has ever seen."
Hallett said her son's attackers deserved the charges brought against them.
"They have been lying from Day One about what happened," Marlene Hallett said. "It doesn't matter what happened. There is no excuse for the viciousness of the beating. They deserve it. I hope they go to jail and rot there, every one of them."
Defense lawyer Dan Hofmann, who represents Thelen, said his client was "absolutely innocent."
"She is a remarkably good and decent young lady who never would become engaged in any kind of criminal conduct," Hofmann said. "She's going to have an opportunity to pore over the government's documents and investigation, and try and understand why she would get dragged into this web."
Even before the charges Thursday, Quilici and his former police department were deeply affected by the fallout of the events at KC's Cabin.
Quilici's was the only name to appear in Hallett's lawsuit when it was filed; the other officers were not identified by name until two weeks ago.
On March 15, former Richmond Village President Kevin Brusek fired Police Chief Roger Szewczyk for "insubordination." The next day, Quilici was placed on administrative leave while police and the McHenry County state's attorney launched their investigation.
Quilici resigned from his job May 18.
Richmond Police Chief Rich Contant said he worked with Quilici for three years and did not see any problems with his performance.
"I can't say I'm surprised about the outcome of this," Contant said. "I feel sorry for Brian. I know he probably overstepped his bounds. He was always a good officer on the street."
Contant said the state police were at the department earlier in the day Thursday looking for Quilici.
"I hope for his sake he turns himself in and that he doesn't run," Contant said.
Brusek, who was defeated in the April election, said he believed that the majority of police officers were "good people who work hard to preserve people's rights."
"But it is up to the good officers to make sure the bad officers do not stay on the street," he said.
Spring Grove Police Chief Donald Regnier, who once coached Ryan Hallett's junior tackle football team, said he was aware that Hallett had facial injuries but did not know the extent of the beating until he saw the lawsuit.
Pilati, a Spring Grove officer, was placed on administrative leave April 1.
Regnier said that if the grand jury indicted the officers, there must have been evidence against them.
"You can't condemn the entire professional field for the acts of one individual off duty," Regnier said. "I expect the system will treat [Pilati] like any other individual."
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