Man charged in incident that led to Schaumburg police officer's death

Schaumburg Police have charged a 24-year-old Glendale Heights man with several felonies and misdemeanors after he attempted to evade police near a popular local nightclub.

One of the police officers, Frank Russo, collapsed and later died following the struggle late Friday night near the John Barleycorn nightclub at 1100 American Lane.

Jordan Miczek, of 93 Shorewood Drive, was charged Sunday with two felony counts of aggravated battery to a police officer, one misdemeanor count of battery, and four misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest.

None of the charges were related to Russo's death, Schaumburg Police Sgt. John Nebl said.

"We had a Cook County state's attorney at our department for most of the day yesterday and most of the day today, and the charges came at their direction," Nebl said. "Basically, Officer Russo had a heart attack during the course of trying to subdue this offender."

Russo and his partner were working an extra detail at the nightclub when they were summoned by the club's security to help in a struggle with Miczek, who was being removed from the club.

Police said Miczek struck the nightclub employee and then ran off with a friend to a nearby shopping center on the 1000 block of East Golf Road. When he was found hiding behind a garbage bin, police said Miczek then struck Russo's partner and resisted arrest.

While at the station, police said Miczek struck another officer while resisting the efforts of three officers who tried to pull him out of the squad car.

Miczek's friend also was arrested but released Sunday without charges.

Funeral arrangements will be announced Monday for Russo, 47, a 19-year-veteran and decorated Schaumburg patrol officer. He is the first officer to die in the line of duty for the department.

Russo's star will be added to a memorial wall at the police department that commemorates other officers who have died. The department also has purple bunting up to commemorate Russo and is flying its flag at half-staff.

An autopsy showed that Russo died of hypertensive cardiovascular disease, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Members of the police department were still coming to grips with the news of Russo's death. Several colleagues said there was no indication that Russo had any health problems before the heart attack.

"The atmosphere is real quiet around here," said Sgt. Gary Ciccola, who has worked with Russo for the past 19 years. "Everybody's still in shock."

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