District 88 board member charged with grabbing student

An elected DuPage High School District 88 school board member is facing misdemeanor charges after an Addison Trail High School student accused him of inappropriate contact.

Paul D. Habel turned himself in to Addison police late Wednesday for an outstanding warrant alleging battery. Habel was released that same night after posting $100 bail pending a court appearance next month.

The 39-year-old Addison man is charged with grabbing an 18-year-old student's left arm and attempting to pull him in his direction about noon April 15 during a confrontation in the school hallway.

Police said the student, though upset, was not physically injured. He filed an official complaint April 21. DuPage Associate Judge Richard Russo signed a warrant for Habel's arrest later that day.

The student's parents and Habel declined to comment Thursday, but a police report shed some light on the allegations. Police said Habel refused to talk to them about the allegations, but they made the arrest after interviewing several students, an Addison Trail liaison officer and District 88 Superintendent Steve Humphrey, as well as others.

The incident apparently began when Habel was sitting outside the high school in a car with his wife, who is an Addison Trail teacher. Authorities said Humphrey told them Habel admitted confronting a group of students attempting to enter the building through a secured door, which is against school policy.

The report states Habel thought the students, because of their clothing, looked "extremely suspicious" and had possible gang ties. Police said the students told them Habel ordered the group to come with him to the dean's office or be expelled.

It was while walking to the dean's office that the group encountered the 18-year-old student who accused Habel of battery. The student told police he had called in sick that morning but, because he was feeling better, returned to the school when Habel grabbed him, the police report said. Police said the student refused to go with Habel, whom he did not know.

"Mr. Habel thought that (the student) was inappropriately unexcused from school," Addison police Sgt. Joseph Maranowicz said. "So he confronted the victim in the school hallway and tried to take him to the dean's office."

Humphrey said he could not get into specifics about the arrest, since it is a criminal matter, but he assured parents the safety of students is paramount in the school system. For example, both the district's high schools are staffed with two police liaison officers each.

Habel does not have a prior criminal history. Voters elected him to a four-year seat on the school board in April 2007. In the police report, Habel is accused in an April 22 phone call of refusing to turn himself in unless his arrest was kept confidential.

"He advised he did not want this arrest in the newspapers, and no one would be aware of the information," Addison police officer Dennis Kotlinski wrote in his report. "He stated he had a political career to be concerned about and political aspirations. He then stated if his name was dragged through the mud, he would drag everybody else's name through the mud. At this time I advised him our conversation was over and that he was in no position to make any demands."