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Elgin cop gets one-day suspension in cat case

An Elgin police sergeant has been suspended for one day without pay for releasing a cat into the cold on Dec. 8 after a couple tried to drop it off at the police station.

Sgt. John Demmin, a 26-year department veteran, will serve his suspension on March 8.

According to Demmin's disciplinary report, obtained by the Daily Herald through a Freedom of Information Act request, Demmin repeatedly told a local couple that the police department does not accept stray cats.

The couple said that the cat - complete with a carrier, food and a note with its name and age - was dropped off at their Elgin apartment earlier that day and they had no choice except to bring it to the station because other shelters were full, their kids were allergic to it and their landlord prohibited cats.

Demmin, according to city documents, witness accounts and his own testimony, took the carrier outside the department lobby, opened it and the cat ran free.

An officer found the cat at 4 a.m. the next day near the station.

Demmin declined to comment when reached by phone Tuesday but stated in internal reports he could have handled the situation better.

The suspension was the first in Demmin's career in Elgin. He received verbal reprimands for "at-fault squad crashes" in 2005 and 2008, documents show.

Police Chief Lisa Womack, who found the carrier later that night outside the department steps, said she does not comment on specific employee disciplinary matters.

"We've certainly stressed to our employees to use reasonableness and common sense," she said. "We'll take every stop to make sure that this doesn't happen again."

As for the cat, it was taken to the Golf Rose Animal Hospital in Schaumburg and eventually adopted.

Charles Bulson, a hospital administrator, said a female schoolteacher from the far west suburbs adopted the cat soon after news of the incident spread.

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