Cops: Ex-worker stole from Elgin police department

A former community service officer from the Elgin Police Department faces felony charges accusing her of stealing $1,500 from the department, police said Friday.

Sarai Villarreal, 33, of the 300 block of South Clifton Avenue, Elgin, was charged with one count of theft over $300 from a government institution and one count of misconduct for using her position to steal, said Lt. Glenn Theriault.

Villarreal stole $500 on three separate occasions - Aug. 7, Aug. 12 and Aug. 24 - from people who paid a fee to retrieve towed vehicles, authorities said. Officials said Villarreal, who resigned Thursday from her $51,500 a year position, took the money while working the police station's front desk.

"This is unacceptable and the citizens expect more from employees at the police department," said Police Chief Jeffrey Swoboda. "It won't be tolerated."

Police said they launched an investigation shortly after an internal audit system tipped officials off that money was missing.

"Within a couple of weeks of it happening, we were able to identify the problem and put and end to it," Theriault said.

Community service officers are non-sworn employees responsible for various tasks, including traffic control, animal control, assisting in the jail and accepting bond payments.

Villarreal, a city employee for nine years, turned herself into the station Friday after a warrant was issued for her arrest, Theriault said. She was released after putting up $300 bond. Her next court date is Sept. 16 at the Kane County Judicial Center.

If found guilty of the most serious charge, which in her case is theft, she could spent between three and seven years in prison.