Reinstated Elgin cop files complaint after being put on paid leave

Elgin police officer Jesus "Jesse" Padron is back on the police force.

But he's not back at work, Padron's attorney said Monday.

Padron was placed on paid administrative leave Friday, a week after an arbitrator ruled he could have his old job back, said Tim O'Neil, who represented the embattled officer.

In response, Padron filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the Illinois Labor Relations Board, O'Neil said.

"He is drawing pay for sitting at home doing nothing, which I'm sure the taxpayers will be thrilled about," O'Neil said. "He should be back to work. Instead (Police Chief Lisa Womack) just sent him home collecting pay."

City officials declined to comment on Padron's labor complaint.

"We would obviously need to review his complaint before we could comment," city spokeswoman Sue Olafson said.

City officials also declined to comment on the reasons for the paid leave, its duration or how much Padron will make while out of work.

Padron has previously said he makes at least $60,000 a year, not including possible overtime and benefits.

He will receive retroactive pay dating to Oct. 22, the day arbitrator Jack P. Cerone made his ruling, O'Neil said.

Womack wouldn't return repeated calls for comment.

Police spokeswoman Ann Dinges referred questions to the city's legal department.

And legal counsel declined comment, saying it was a personnel matter.

Womack initially fired Padron, 45, last October after a three-month internal investigation into whether the 19-year veteran police officer attempted to shoplift merchandise from a Carson Pirie Scott store in Schaumburg.

Padron has maintained his innocence and was not charged in the incident.

He is now the second officer fired under Womack to win a job back through arbitration.

O'Neil says the city is now attempting to circumvent the arbitrator's order.

"They don't like the result, so they're resorting to other illegal tactics," he said.

Padron has been at odds with the police department numerous times since the mid-1990s, when he was first suspended 30 days for lying on the witness stand to protect an informant.

He also was suspended for three days for failing to show up as a witness in an unrelated drug case.

And in 1999, Padron was back in trouble after admitting to fixing a ticket for an informant.

But the fire and police commission, which in the 1990s had the power to terminate police officers, did not give Padron his walking papers.

O'Neil suggests the city's latest action is an attempt to make up for what wasn't done then.

"This is just sour grapes," he said.