Prosecutors are dropping driving under the influence charges against the Hebron village president due to an “incompetent” investigation by the arresting officer, who is now under investigation.
Robert Shelton, 63, of Hebron, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, reckless driving and three counts of disregarding a stop sign.
An officer with the Hebron Police Department conducted a traffic stop on a 2008 Harley Davidson motorcycle around 11:15 p.m. on June 20.
Court records show the driver, Shelton, was found to be driving the motorcycle, which officers stopped near Bigelow Avenue west of Route 47.
A report said the officer witnessed Shelton disregard three different stop signs, beginning in the area of Illinois Street and Prairie Avenue in Hebron.
The officer noted Shelton, who is the Hebron village president, had bloodshot glossy eyes and smelled of an alcoholic beverage.
Shelton admitted to consuming three or four alcoholic drinks and had an unsteady gait while walking to the back of his motorcycle, according to a police report.
An officer noted in their report that Shelton failed field sobriety testing.
A preliminary breath test showed a blood alcohol content reading of .09, which is over the legal limit, according to the police report. Shelton refused a subsequent breath test at the police station.
Shelton was arrested and released on a personal recognizance bond, court records show.
The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday that they were dismissing the driving under the influence charges against Shelton “due to an incompetent investigation by the Hebron Police Department.”
The state’s attorney said the investigating officer, whose testimony the entirety of the case relies on, is “encumbered” with credibility problems.
He has since resigned from the Hebron Police Department while under investigation for allegedly falsifying time sheets.
During a pre-trial hearing in Shelton’s case, the investigating officer could not recall the relevant topics covered during his driving under the influence training, the name of the officer who assisted on the traffic stop or whether there were any physical signs of impairment with Shelton.
The investigating officer also could not remember whether Shelton had any physical injuries that would affect his ability to perform field sobriety tests, the sequence of field sobriety tests performed or the results of the field sobriety tests, according to the state’s attorney’s office.
The state’s attorney’s office said they have instructed law enforcement “for years” to make sure a warrant for a blood sample is obtained if a DUI suspect refuses to submit a breathalyzer test.
The investigating officer failed to obtain the warrant for a blood sample in Shelton’s case.
Prosecutors also said the investigating officer’s body camera inexplicably “stopped” working 20 minutes into the investigation and the squad car was not equipped with a dash camera.
“Though the question of whether Hebron’s mayor endangered himself and his own constituents by driving under the influence of alcohol is certainly one the public has a pressing interest in having answered, because of the failings of the Hebron Police Department, no answer is possible,” the state’s attorney’s office said.
Months prior to Shelton’s arrest, he cut the Hebron Police Department’s funding, forcing more than half the department to be laid off.