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.
