Prosecutors say the Holiday Hills police chief, who worked as an officer in Prairie Grove, used Flock license plate readers on and off-duty to track people he knew, including the ex-boyfriend of a woman he also dated.
William C. Copp, 54, of Crystal Lake, was charged with two counts of official misconduct, a Class 3 felony.
Prairie Grove Chief of Police Michael Goins said his department began an investigation in November into Copp.
Copp, who was working at the time as a part-time Prairie Grove police officer, was accused of misusing police databases.
Copp is also the Chief of Police for the Village of Holiday Hills.
Goins said the investigation determined that Copp conducted numerous searches unrelated to any official law enforcement investigation.
He is accused of performing the searches for personal purposes, Goins said.
The databases included the Illinois State Police LEADS database and an automated license plate reader system.
LEADS is a statewide electronic system operated by the Illinois State Police, connecting nearly all local police departments and various state agencies.
McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Brian Miller said in court that Copp used the systems to track six people he is connected to personally.
The unauthorized use of the systems occurred while he was on-duty as well as off-duty, Miller said, adding that three of the people were women Copp had been in romantic relationships with.
Miller said one of them was an ex-boyfriend of one of the women and Copp tracked the man 140 times while also calling him and telling him not to communicate with the woman they both knew.
The ex-boyfriend, who is alleged to have been tracked by Copp, filed a petition with the court for a stalking no-contact order in February but McHenry County Judge Jeffrey Hirsch denied the request.
The petition said Copp called the 50-year-old man on his “police phone” on September 1 and left a threatening voicemail telling him to no longer have contact with his ex-girlfriend, who was also Copp’s ex-girlfriend.
Copp allegedly told the man, “This is the only time that I’m going to be nice about this,” and called again on September 22, telling him to leave her alone.
The 50-year-old man said in the petition that the Prairie Grove police chief and a McHenry County investigator reached out to him in January to discuss the situation involving Copp.
The man said in the petition that he thought the phone calls in September was the end of it but was informed by police that Copp had ran his license plate in the LPR system 178 times from September 2025 to January 2026.
“He is stalking my whereabouts through my license plate. I fear for my safety. I fear for my kids safety as they drive my car sometimes when they are home from college. I have never been to McHenry County and he has no reason at all to run my plate at all let alone that many times for personal use and that has me really worried. Those LPRs are near my house as well so he knows everything about me and Im fearful for my safety,” the petitioner said.
Hirsch said he denied the emergency no-contact order because it had “not been shown that the harm sought to be prevented would likely occur if [Copp] were given prior or greater notice of the petitioner’s efforts to obtain judicial relief.”
Goins said Copp has since been terminated from his position as a part-time police officer with the Prairie Grove Police Department.
The case was reviewed by the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Prairie Grove Police Department obtained an arrest warrant for Copp on the official misconduct charges.
The department conducted a traffic stop on Copp around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and took him into custody.
“The Village has limited information and was surprised about the charges because they appear to be related to his employment with Prairie Grove and not to his employment with Holiday Hills,” the village attorney for Holiday Hills told Lake and McHenry County Scanner.
She said the village is in the process of gathering information and will consider Copp’s employment status during its next open meeting.
Copp was transported to the McHenry County Jail on the warrant following the traffic stop and turned over to jail staff.
Copp was hired as a police officer with the Holiday Hills Police Department in January 2022 and named chief in January 2025.
Copp appeared for an Initial Appearance Court hearing on Thursday afternoon before McHenry County Judge Michael Feetterer.
The charges are non-detainable under the Illinois SAFE-T Act and Feetterer released Copp from custody following the hearing.
Copp was ordered to have no contact with five of the six people he is accused of tracking.
Copp was also ordered not to go to the Prairie Grove Police Department or Holiday Hills Police Department, except one time each to obtain personal items. He will be required to be accompanied by an active, on-duty officer when he does so.
Feetterer also barred Copp from working as a police officer and from possessing firearms while ordering him to turn over his FOID card following his release.
Copp was additionally ordered to obtain a mental health evaluation and comply with any recommendations.
Copp is scheduled to appear in court again on July 22.