Bombshell thrown by state's attorney's candidate bounces back

Republican candidate for Cook County state's attorney Tony Peraica unleashed a bombshell against Democratic candidate Anita Alvarez during their debate Tuesday, only to have it bounce back when those involved denied it and Peraica could not prove it by the end of the day.

The exchange at the Union League Club came during the answer to a relatively "softball" question to the candidates about what single experience in their past would guide them in their job should they be elected.

Rather than name an experience, Peraica launched into a discussion of the case against John Ardelean, a Chicago police officer who was involved in a fatal crash Thanksgiving Day with two other men from Cicero. Police failed to test Ardelean's alcohol content for seven hours, and eventually the state's attorney office filed only misdemeanor charges. Later it was revealed that the office had in its possession a video of Ardelean drinking at a bar moments before the crash. When that became public, the office agreed to reopen the case and consider felony charges.

"My opponent was part of the team that authorized misdemeanor negligent driving charges against this officer," said Peraica.

The only problem with that accusation, however, is Alvarez departed the state's attorney's office on a leave of absence a month before the crash took place, and has stayed on that leave to campaign ever since.

"I took no part in the decision-making of that case, attended no meetings, read no police reports," said Alvarez afterward, who immediately denied the charge during the debate as well.

While he-said/she-said scenarios are nothing new to debates, within hours, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office backed up Alvarez' version.

"Apparently, once again, Tony Peraica has no idea what he's talking about when it comes to the state's attorney's office," said John Gorman, a spokesman for State's Attorney Dick Devine. "She did not partake in any meetings regarding the Ardelean case and was involved in no charging decisions."

Gorman said that account comes from not just Devine, but Gorman himself, who was in on the meetings.

"I was in on every substantive meeting on Ardelean. Anita Alvarez was not at any of those meetings," Gorman said. Nor, said Gorman, has Alvarez been present for any meetings that the deputy state's attorney would normally be at since she took her leave.

Alvarez said the family of the two dead men did approach her with concerns about the case when it hit the media, and she said she told them she also was concerned about the lack of testing of the officer for more than seven hours after the crash. She promised them, if elected, to take a fresh look at the case. But she had no interoffice involvement, she said.

"I am amazed at some of the stuff that my opponent just, literally, makes up as he continues to speak," Alvarez said.

"His comment ... borders on slander," added her spokeswoman Sally Daly.

Peraica stuck to his guns, claiming to have a "source" in the office, "someone who is part of the decision-making process at the highest levels."

"Tony Peraica should reveal his source," scoffed Gorman.

"I will ask the source if they want to go on record," said Peraica Tuesday when asked if a reporter could speak to the source.

The source never called.