Auction of former Gliniewicz tribute car hacked
An eBay auction of a car originally sold to benefit the family of disgraced Fox Lake police Lt. Joe Gliniewicz was hacked Monday morning, causing the auction to have to reset at its starting value.
Bidding had climbed as high as $15,800, Volo Auto Museum Director Brian Grams said, when the hack was discovered. The car's current owners, Tim Potoczny and his business partner, had to start again at the minimum $500 bid.
Potoczny and his business partner at Sparrow Express Transport bought the car - a 2002 California Highway Patrol Camaro adorned with decals paying tribute to "G.I. Joe" Gliniewicz - from the Volo Auto Museum for $20,100, of which $10,100 went to Gliniewicz's four sons. Potoczny had intended to display the car at community events and parades.
That's before news broke of the scandal involving Gliniewicz, who staged his Sept. 1, 2015, suicide to look like a murder after he had embezzled funds from the police department's Explorer Program.
The car has since been stripped of the Gliniewicz decals. Potoczny found a new purpose for the car when he learned that his former Palatine High School classmate, Huntley police Sgt. L.J. Marak, had died at 40 on Aug. 23 after a two-year battle with cancer.
Potoczny plans to have the car auctioned to help Marak's wife, Kim, and sons, Sammy, Ben and Leo.
"I want it to go to some good," said Potoczny, adding the shadow of Gliniewicz's disgrace is in the past. "I want to encourage everybody to support all our officers. Often they get a real bad name. ... 1 percent of them are bad, but 99 percent of them (need) to be supported."
As soon as Grams learned the auction had been canceled Monday, he relisted the Camaro. The auction now continues through Monday afternoon, Sept. 19. Not long after being listed, bidding was back up above $15,000. Grams wonders how much momentum may have been lost.
"We just hope in the end that the amount generated is a good number," he said. "Tim (Potoczny) and I both want the original intent of last year's auction to be served. We want a deserving officer's family to benefit. So the higher the number, the better."
A link to the auction is available under the events tab at volocars.com.
Donations for the Maraks also can be made to the Marak Family Assistance Fund through any BMO Harris and Chase banks, or mailed to the "Sergeant L.J. Marak Family Fund," P.O. Box 1023, Huntley, IL 60142. A fundraiser for the family is set for 5 to 10 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15, at Durty Nellie's, 180 N. Smith St., Palatine.