Probe clears Naperville cops in headlight ticket complaint
Two Naperville police officers have been cleared of wrongdoing after an internal investigation into a resident's complaint that they unfairly ticketed him.
In the complaint filed May 6, Basim Esmail accused officers Jeremy Womack and Scott Donofrio of abusing their discretion when they issued him a ticket instead of a warning on March 22 for driving with a burned-out headlight.
Esmail, a 63-year-old liquor store owner who has a history of confrontations with the city, said in the complaint he thought the officers ticketed him because of "who I am" and because of a personal bias against him.
Those accusations were determined to be unfounded in a six-page letter from Naperville Police Chief Robert Marshall explaining the conclusion of the investigation.
"There is no evidence that the citation was issued based upon 'who Mr. Esmail is' as he claims," the document says.
Instead, the investigation found Esmail was given a ticket because he had a past citation for a similar violation.
Esmail, who sued the city in the 1990s over a rejected liquor license application and ran 129 "Napergate" ads in a newspaper decrying the rejection and criticizing city government, called the conclusions "shockingly one-sided."
"They decided not to admit to anything," Esmail said after he received Marshall's letter Thursday. "Basically they target and harass you. Build a nice false record on you. Then, every time you sneeze, they stop and ticket you because you have a 'long record' that they relentlessly 'manufactured' over years of targeting, harassment and silent discrimination."
The internal investigation, which was launched because of Esmail's complaint, reviewed the conduct of officers Womack and Donofrio to determine if they violated departmental policies during the March traffic stop.
Video from Womack's in-car camera system shows Womack initially told Esmail the headlight was not "a big deal" when he stopped Esmail's yellow 2003 Hummer about 1 a.m. on Washington Street just south of Aurora Avenue. But then Donofrio pulls up and has a conversation with Womack, part of which occurs with both officers' microphones turned off.
After Donofrio asks, "Do you know who that is?" the audio of Womack's recording cuts out for nearly 10 seconds. Then Womack spends several minutes in his squad car before approaching Esmail's window again and issuing him a citation, saying "I was going to give you a warning, but then when I saw your driving record, it kind of changed my mind."
Since 2004, police records show Esmail has been stopped 13 times, Marshall said. During those stops, Esmail was ticketed seven times, warned in writing five times and given one "no police action taken," which Marshall said likely means a verbal warning.
DuPage County court records show Esmail has received 25 traffic citations since 1985, with at least six of them coming from communities other than Naperville.
During the probe, Womack, who has been with the department since 2012 and was given the Lifesaving Award earlier this year for helping revive a teen who was overdosing on heroin, was investigated on two fronts.
The investigation found Womack did not abuse his discretion in ticketing Esmail for the headlight. It also worked to determine if he violated a police department rule when he turned off the microphone of his in-car video and audio recording system.
Donofrio, who has been with the department since 1998 and was recognized in 2013 for exemplary performance in DUI enforcement, was investigated to determine if he improperly instructed Womack to turn off the audio.
When the review began, Marshall said departmental policy calls for microphones to remain on during all traffic stops.
But the report issued June 12 says officers are trained that there is at least one reason audio can be turned off: to "discuss intelligence that needs to remain confidential or is related to an ongoing investigation."
The report says that's why Womack muted his audio - because Donofrio alerted Womack that he wanted to share "intelligence information."
While the microphones were off, the report says Donofrio reminded Womack that Esmail "was identified recently in roll call as a suspicious subject who was observed driving around taking photos of young teenagers."
According to documents the Daily Herald obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the suspicious incident report dates to May 27, 2013. On that day, officer James Sakelakos filed a field contact report that said someone reported Esmail was taking pictures in a suspicious manner on the 1900 block of South Washington Street.
"Esmail has been reported possibly taking pictures or in the area, possibly of females and children through the downtown, S. Washington and college area," the field contact report reads.
Esmail says he was not taking pictures of any people, but of signs that proved a shop was going out of business because one of the tenants in a shopping plaza he owns requested them. He says police brought up the two-year-old incident "in hopes of tarnishing my character."
But the report says the sharing of intelligence information about the photography incident gave reason for Womack to mute his audio, so neither he nor Donofrio were in violation of police department policy.
However, because the audio was turned off at a time other than the logical conclusion of the traffic stop, Womack was supposed to write a memo to his supervisor to explain.
The report found Womack did not submit a memo, and it said the officer was to "receive training to improve his understanding" of the rule.
The report also found Donofrio used an "inappropriate term" - the phrase "damn it" - during part of his conversation with Womack that was captured on audio. Donofrio's commander addressed the behavior with him, the report said.
Womack and Donofrio did not immediately return messages about the investigation. Vince Clark, president of the union that represents Naperville police officers, said he had no comment.
Esmail said the department "whitewashed" his concerns.
"It was just so one-sided and honestly very shocking, that even with an incident with a video, that they could exonerate themselves as well as they did," Esmail said.
The investigation ordered a review of video and audio recording policies and procedures for using in-car cameras installed in 2014. Findings are due to Marshall in August.