Council member charged with stealing salt

ROCKFORD -- A northern Illinois city council member is facing misdemeanor charges after allegedly stealing salt from a municipal facility.

But Robert Redieske says the theft charges are politically motivated. And he says plenty of South Beloit public employees help themselves to the city's pile.

Redieske was charged Thursday with stealing 200 pounds of salt from a city facility the day before.

He says he took no more than four shovels full of salt and used it to cover the public street outside of his home -- and not his driveway.

Dominic Iasparro is deputy chief of the Winnebago County Sheriff's Department. He says public works department employees alerted the city's mayor, who asked detectives to investigate.