A police chief issued a statement blaming the news media while admitting that a felon who found a lost police employee’s rifle hid the gun at a library next to a school in Crystal Lake, which the department previously said was “inaccurate.”
Crystal Lake Police Chief James Black said that an off-duty employee of the Crystal Lake Police Department placed his personal rifle on the trunk of his vehicle in the garage of his residence in unincorporated Crystal Lake on September 21.
His spouse unknowingly entered the vehicle and accidentally drove off with the weapon, which was still in the case, in the trunk of the vehicle.
She later returned home and the weapon was gone. The police department employee filed a report with the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and reported the incident to his command staff in Crystal Lake.
Officers conducted a canvass and reviewed video footage, which led them to believe the weapon slid off the trunk within the incorporated part of Crystal Lake, Black said.
Crystal Lake police detectives began investigating and conducted an interview with a subject around 9:30 a.m. Friday in the 1-100 block of McHenry Avenue in Crystal Lake based on video evidence they obtained.
Detectives were alerted that a gun was inside the home while they were interviewing the subject, Robert J. Walker Jr., 50, of Oakwood Hills.
Walker was detained and officers took possession of the firearm, which was determined to be the missing DSA Arms Model ZM4 AR-15 rifle.
Walker was charged with two counts of felon in possession of a firearm, aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon with a previous conviction, possession of a firearm while ineligible for a FOID and possession of a firearm within a school zone.
A criminal complaint said Walker has a prior felony conviction for burglary in McHenry County that prohibits him from possessing firearms.
Walker was also allegedly in possession of ammunition for the rifle at the residence, the complaint said.
Detectives learned Walker also possessed the gun in public on September 21, which is when the gun went missing, Black said.
Walker reported he had hidden the rifle in the bushes at the Crystal Lake Public Library because he was unable to make contact with a resident on McHenry Avenue.
The library is located directly across the street from Husmann Elementary School, 131 West Paddock Street.
A few hours later, the resident arrived home and Walker retrieved the discarded firearm from the bushes and brought it back to the residence on McHenry Avenue where it was later recovered by police days later, Black said.
Lake and McHenry County Scanner reported on the arrest and incident on Monday based on information from a sworn criminal complaint, written by a Crystal Lake police detective, and other records filed in McHenry County Circuit Court.
The detective listed incorrect dates and times for when Walker concealed the rifle in the library bushes, which caused Lake and McHenry County Scanner to report that Walker concealed the rifle at 12:40 p.m. on Friday.
Black said that the detective inadvertently listed the date of arrest, being September 26, in the complaint instead of the date of occurrence, which was September 21, for the charge.
“This was a clerical error that has since been correct,” Black said on Thursday, before blaming “various media sources” for “assuming” Walker had hidden the weapon in the bushes on September 26, which is what was listed in court records.
“Had the police department been contacted prior to the news stories being published, confusion could have been avoid,” the police chief said, despite also acknowledging that the department “ordinarily limits the information publicly shared regarding criminal cases in order to avoid negative impacts on the prosecution of such cases.”
On Tuesday, after the story was reported in news outlets, the Crystal Lake Police Department issued a press release regarding the arrest.
The press release deceivingly made no mention of the gun ever being in the bushes of the library, leading the community to incorrectly believe that it never happened.
“It has been reported that the firearm was recovered by police in some bushes along the Crystal Lake Public Library. This is inaccurate and the firearm was recovered by police from the residence,” the Tuesday release stated.
Lake and McHenry County Scanner had tried to get answers on Tuesday to further questions regarding the gun being in the bushes of the library but Crystal Lake Deputy Police Chief Thomas Kotlowski refused to answer them.
“This is an active investigation. I have no further comment on the case at this time,” Kotlowski said.
Black issued an unusual two-page public statement regarding the entire ordeal after the police department appeared to be dealing with the fallout from its failure to inform residents and the school community about the gun incident.
“I hope this information helps put people at ease. Mr. Walker was arrested and police took possession of the firearm on the same day police learned about his possession of the firearm. There were no threats made involving the possession of the firearm, and therefore there was no need to alert nearby schools, library or residents because there was no danger to them. Police were present, had possession of the weapon, and the subject was in custody,” the chief said.
Black said in his Thursday statement that protecting the community is the department’s “top priority” and it has an “excellent working relationship” with both school districts.
“I certainly understand the anger and fear parents experienced based on the inaccurate information that had been reported. But had there been any sort of threat (perceived or credible) to the school, children, or Library, be assured that we would have immediately notified them and taken appropriate steps to ensure their safety.”
The police chief’s two-page statement published on the department’s Facebook was met with criticism and sharp reaction from residents.
“This is even more insane than the original story circulating,” one commenter said.
“In conclusion: – A police employee lost control of a personal firearm. (Curious if they’ll be held to the same or HIGHER standard than a civilian missplacing their rifle) – The rifle ended up near the public library, across the street from an elementary school. – The clerical error undermined trust. – And we’re blaming the press… Do I have that right?” another commenter said.
“‘Had the police department been contacted prior to the news stories being published, confusion could have been avoided.’ Again, let’s blame someone else. How about ‘had a supervisor read the complaint and approved it or denied it before the complaint was issued, the media circus would never have happened.’ Not the medias fault on this one. They just reported what the filed criminal documents stated as fact,” a third commenter said.
The police employee who lost their rifle is being subject to an internal affairs investigation.
The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office sought to have Walker detained pending trial and McHenry County Judge Joel Berg denied a petition to detain and allowed him to be released from custody.
He is scheduled to appear in court again on October 24 for a status of preliminary hearing.