Golf course pilot not arrested illegally, judge says

A Lake Villa man was not under arrest when he told police he had deliberately landed his airplane on a Lincolnshire golf course, a judge ruled Friday.

In doing so, Associate Judge Charles Johnson denied Buffalo Grove attorney Judith Bethge's motion to bar any statements Robert Kadera made to police from being used against him because she claimed he had been illegally arrested.

Kadera, 65, told the first officer he spoke with after setting down March 1 on the Crane's Landing Golf Course at Marriott's Lincolnshire Resort what he had done and why he had done it.

"He said 'I am the pilot and the landing was planned; there was no emergency,'" Sgt. Anne Marie Blaze testified. "He said he was trying to get his son to a tennis lesson."

Kadera's Piper PA-16 Clipper landed on the seventh fairway, just across Route 22 from the Lincolnshire Bath and Tennis Club where his 14-year-old son was taking tennis lessons.

Bethge claimed police made it clear to Kadera he was not free to walk away from them, kept him from returning to make sure his plane was not damaged when it was towed off the golf course and repeatedly threatened him with arrest.

But Blaze and other Lincolnshire officers called by Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Lauren Walker testified Kadera was told numerous times he was not going to be arrested until the incident was fully investigated.

They said they would not have let Kadera go until they were satisfied they had collected all the information they needed for the investigation.

Johnson said there was no evidence Kadera ever told police he wanted to leave, and no evidence he made any statements to them after he refused to waive his right to remain silent.

Holding Kadera for investigative purposes was perfectly legal, Johnson said.

"The test is if there is a reasonable basis for police to believe there was criminal activity afoot," Johnson said. "It kind of goes without saying that something was weird - there was an airplane on the golf course."

Kadera was charged nearly two months later with the misdemeanor offenses of reckless conduct and endangering the life of a child.

He faces up to a year in jail if convicted, and is due in court Oct. 15.