New charge filed against former Island Lake mayor

Prosecutors filed a pair of misdemeanor charges against former Island Lake mayor Thomas Hyde, claiming that during a Christmas party, he grabbed and insulted a man who had been subpoenaed in the investigation of his activities.

Hyde's attorney, Charles Smith of Waukegan, protested the filings Wednesday and said the incident was blown out of proportion.

The charges - battery and attempted unlawful communication with a witness - are the latest in a series of legal woes for Hyde. He was acquitted of forgery and official misconduct last summer, and is accused along with his wife in a ghost payrolling scheme.

Assistant State's Attorney Christen Bishop said Hyde was at a Dec. 11 Christmas party for village employees at Sideouts, 4108 Roberts Road. Bishop said Hyde walked up behind a 46-year-old village contractor who was subpoenaed during the Hyde investigation but did not testify in the first trial.

Hyde put his arm around the man's neck and got the man into a headlock, Bishop said, and said derogatory things to him as he held the man's head against his chest.

Bishop said the man pushed away, recognized it was Hyde who had been holding him and reported it to police Dec. 15.

Smith said his client, who is awaiting trial on charges he voted as mayor and village trustee to pay his wife for hours she did not work as director of the village-run preschool, did nothing illegal in the encounter.

"He put his arm around somebody at a Christmas party and said unkind things to him," Smith said. "There was no violence and there were about 50 witnesses."

Smith also challenged the timing of the charges, telling Circuit Judge Fred Foreman the event "Was so serious it took four days to report," and happened more than two months ago.

Bishop said the incident had been turned over to the Lake County sheriff's office for "a thorough, independent investigation," that was fully reviewed by her office.

She told Foreman she had considered filing "certain felony charges," against Hyde, but declined to elaborate after the court hearing.

She said both new charges carry a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $2,500 fine upon conviction.

Also on Wednesday, Foreman denied a motion to dismiss the theft of government property, making of false statements and official misconduct charges against Sharon Hyde.

Smith had argued the state waited too long to charge her with falsifying her pay records over a 10-year period and collecting $114,000 she did not earn between 1999 and 2009.

Smith also said Sharon Hyde was a salaried employee of the village and the hours she worked were irrelevant to the amount she was paid.

But Foreman ruled the statute of limitations on filing charges does not begin to run until the final act in a series of alleged acts is committed, and the issue of Sharon Hyde's pay status with the village was for a jury to decide.

Both Hydes are due in court April 7. A tentative trial date in Sharon Hyde's case is set for July 26. She faces a mandatory prison sentence of six to 30 years if convicted of all the charges against her. Thomas Hyde could face up to five years if convicted of official misconduct and having a prohibited interest in contracts.