Add another corrupt governor -- with Lake County ties -- to list

In recent days, you've probably heard the list of corrupt Illinois governors. Three have been incarcerated in the last 35 years - Otto Kerner, Dan Walker, and George Ryan.

There was a fourth infamous governor - Lennington "Len" Small - who had a Lake County connection.

Small, a Republican, was governor of Illinois from 1921 to 1929. While governor, he was indicted on a charge of embezzling $600,000 and running a money-laundering scheme when he was state treasurer.

He was also indicted on a charge of receiving bribes to pardon more than 500 felons. One of those convicted felons killed Winthrop Harbor police officer William Petersen in 1922.

Small was acquitted of wrongdoing, but later suspicions were raised when four jurors received state jobs.

During Prohibition (1920-33), Lake County became a notorious hangout for Chicago mobsters (especially in the lakes region), and was also a route for bootleggers between Chicago and Wisconsin. On Jan. 13, 1922, Winthrop Harbor's only law enforcement officer, William Petersen, was standing in Art Christensen's auto-repair garage along Sheridan Road when he observed a vehicle speeding at approximately 70 mph.

Marshal Petersen gave pursuit on his motorcycle for five miles through Winthrop Harbor and Zion. He was unaware the vehicle held members of a Chicago gang who planned to rob a bank in Kenosha. Near Sheridan Road and Yorkhouse Road, gangster Ignatz Potz leaned out the car's passenger-side window with a shotgun and shot Petersen, killing him instantly. Petersen was only 28 years old.

Authorities in Lake and Cook counties launched a massive manhunt and arrested Potz, detaining him in the Lake County jail. Friends of Petersen made plans for a lynching party; they would go to the jail and forcibly remove the suspect and kill him. The county sheriff got word of this and talked the men out of it.

Potz was found guilty and sentenced to death. The gallows were brought to Waukegan from Chicago for the hanging, which was scheduled for June 16, 1922. As preparations were under way for the hanging, Small, commuted the guilty man's sentence to life imprisonment. Then, in 1928, Small pardoned Potz, who was released.

Through the recent efforts of Winthrop Harbor Deputy Chief Rick Concepción, Detective Sgt. Jim Vepley and Officer Sharon Churchill, the Winthrop Harbor Police Station was dedicated in Officer Petersen's honor, and his name added to the wall of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.