Police want to shut down Mundelein gas station
A Mundelein gas station could be shut down by the village because employees repeatedly made sexual advances toward customers, authorities said Tuesday.
Police Chief Raymond J. Rose wants the village board to revoke the business license for the Clark station at 4 E. Hawley St.
In separate confrontations dating back to March 2005, station employees inappropriately touched one woman and solicited sexual acts from four others, according to village documents.
Employees were arrested after three of the incidents. Police have been unable to identify suspects in the others, Rose said.
The business also has been cited repeatedly for selling tobacco products to minors, village documents indicate.
Trustees expressed disgust about the complaints and the employees' behavior.
"This business is an embarrassment to the village and an embarrassment to all business-license holders who conduct their business properly," Trustee Ray Semple said Tuesday.
Trustee Terri Voss called the acts described in the complaint "disgusting."
"You hate to take away someone's livelihood … but this business is a threat to our community," Voss said.
The station is a franchise and not owned or operated by Clark Brands. Company President Karl Goodhouse declined to comment on the allegations.
The village business license for the Clark station is held by Cyriac Chandy, a Skokie resident who's listed as the businesses' secretary in state incorporation records.
When reached by phone Tuesday, Chandy said he owns the business but declined to comment further.
"If I say anything, it's going to hurt me," he said.
The village board discussed the allegations Monday night but did not settle the matter. It could do so at its next meeting, set for Nov. 12, officials said.
The mayor and village board can suspend Chandy's business license for up to 30 days or revoke it permanently.
According to village officials, employees at the gas station verbally or physically accosted female customers on separate occasions between March 2005 and this past August.
The lone physical confrontation occurred Aug. 21 while the worker was under the influence of alcohol, the official complaint says. Jose C. Koladiyil, 58, of 534 N. Third Ave., Des Plaines, was arrested and charged with battery.
Rose called the incidents outrageous. Nobody in the community should have to worry about walking into a business and being accosted, he said.
Semple is concerned other women may have been victimized but didn't report the incidents to police.
"How much more of this went on that we're not even aware of?" he said. "How many more people were offended and left the business but didn't say anything?"
At Monday's meeting, Chandy apologized and asked for a suspension and a fine. Officials rejected the request.
Stricter punishment is needed, Semple said.
"There are bad apples out there, and when we find them we have to deal with them appropriately," he said.
Anyone with information about similar incidents at the gas station should call Mundelein police at (847) 968-4600.