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"I don't like this book because it don't got know pictures" Chief Rhorerer

“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”

“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”
“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”

Village's new cop fired in 1st week on job, then Arrested


By Dan Hinkel, Tribune reporter


In the days after he started work as a police officer in a small McHenry County village, Ryszard Kopacz was fired, investigated by the state police, arrested and charged with several felonies.
Kopacz had been on the job less than a week when a resident of Richmond, a village of about 2,000 near the Wisconsin border, complained to the department that the new hire went door to door in uniform on the night of July 4, asking people for prescription narcotics, authorities said. The part-time officer didn't show up for work the next day and he was fired July 6, the department said.
The department notified the Illinois State Police of the officer's alleged solicitation of prescription drugs, authorities said, but Kopacz now faces separate charges that he burglarized his previous employer, the nearby Hebron Police Department, and possessed two stolen rifles.
Kopacz, 30, of Wauconda, was arrested Wednesday morning on charges of official misconduct, burglary and possessing stolen guns. A judge set bond at $10,000 and Kopacz was freed Thursday.
The investigation into the prescription drug-related matter is ongoing, Richmond police Chief Ciro Cetrangolo said in a statement. Illinois State Police spokeswoman Monique Bond declined to comment, citing a pending investigation.
Kopacz's lawyer, Steven Goldman, declined to comment on the details of the allegations, though he said his client denies the accusations. Goldman said Kopacz served in the Army, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was honorably discharged.
Kopacz could not be reached for comment.
Before joining the Richmond department, Kopacz was a Hebron police officer for several years. That department is now conducting an internal investigation to determine whether anything else needs to be reported to state police, said Chief Scott Annen. Kopacz, the chief said, "had his hands in a lot of facets of the Police Department."
Annen acknowledged that Kopacz had disciplinary and performance-related issues at the department, though he declined to give details. Kopacz was fired in mid-June for budgetary reasons, the chief said.
Asked whether Kopacz had been a good officer during his time in Hebron, Annen said he "didn't expect anything like this."
After residents complained to the Richmond police about the alleged July 4 incident, the department started investigating and notified McHenry County prosecutors and state police, Richmond department officials wrote in a statement.
Officers undergo a psychological evaluation and background check, the chief said.
"I have a zero-tolerance policy towards officer misconduct when alleged," Cetrangolo said in the statement. "I credit the strong working relationship and bond we have built with the citizens of our community for bringing this to my attention so quickly."
The rifles Kopacz allegedly possessed had been removed from the Hebron police station, authorities said.

Federal court records suggest Kopacz has faced financial troubles recently. He filed for bankruptcy in April 2013, declaring about $21,000 in assets against almost $90,000 in liabilities, court records show. At the time, he listed his income from the Hebron Police Department as roughly $43,000 per year.