The deputy fire chief in Wonder Lake has resigned amid an investigation after a female firefighter claimed he stalked her, threatened to publish her nude photos and threatened to get her fired.
Wonder Lake Fire Protection District Deputy Chief Chris Weber was placed on administrative leave in June, sources told Lake and McHenry County Scanner.
Wonder Lake Fire District Board President Todd Rishling confirmed there was an internal investigation being conducted into Weber.
Weber later submitted a letter of resignation to the fire district on August 8.
Rishling said the investigation first began on June 27. The investigation is still ongoing despite Weber’s resignation.
Court records show a Wonder Lake firefighter, who is in her 20s, petitioned the court for an emergency order of protection against Weber in July.
The woman said she had been in a relationship with Weber and listed multiple incidents of harassment, physical abuse and stalking in her petition involving the deputy fire chief.
The first incident allegedly occurred in September 2022 when the woman said she had fallen asleep at Weber’s residence in McHenry.
The woman said Weber went on her cell phone and texted photos and videos of herself, some of which showed her nude when she was under the age of 18, to his own cell phone, according to the petition.
The petition said Weber deleted the text messages so the woman would not see them but later admitted to it and apologized.
The woman said Weber told her on June 25 — two days prior to him being placed on leave — that he would “expose her” by posting photos of her online.
She claimed that the deputy fire chief threatened to have her fired from the Wonder Lake Fire Protection District as well as the Hebron-Alden-Greenwood Fire Protection District, where she also works.
The petition said Weber threatened to get the woman kicked out of her paramedic program and prevent her from being hired by the Woodstock Fire/Rescue District.
The woman said Weber had stalked her while she was at her home in Wonder Lake on June 25 and that it was witnessed by another fire department member, who called her to notify her about it.
McHenry County Judge Mark Facchini granted the woman’s petition for an emergency order of protection on July 12, the same day she filed the request.
Lake and McHenry County Scanner reached out to Weber for comment but he has not commented on the allegations.
McHenry County Judge Robert Zalud has extended the woman’s order of protection several times since July.
A hearing on the order of protection is scheduled for September 28.