Decision on Drew's son's job will wait till Jan. 10
Oak Brook Police Officer Stephen Peterson will have to wait until another month to find out whether his decision three years ago to stash three of his infamous father's guns will cost him his job.
The Board of Fire and Police Commissioners will meet again Jan. 10 to conclude the six-year veteran's dismissal hearing.
Oak Brook Police Chief Thomas Sheahan charged Thursday night that Peterson obstructed the investigation into the disappearance of his father's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson.
During 2½ hours of testimony, Sheahan said the 31-year-old officer should have immediately gone to authorities when Drew Peterson asked him to keep the guns shortly after Stacy went missing.
“He's a police officer,” Sheahan said. “He understands what evidence is ... He should have known better.”
Sheahan has been seeking Peterson's dismissal since the officer admitted under oath in August that he briefly kept the guns, including an assault rifle with a prohibited shortened barrel, for his father.
“I in no way obstructed any investigation,” Peterson testified Thursday. “When I was asked a question, I answered truthfully ... I in no way attempted to hide any guns.”
Peterson has been on paid administrative leave from “the greatest job in the world” since August.
Drew Peterson, a retired Bolingbrook police sergeant, brought the guns to his son's North Aurora home on Oct. 30, 2007, and Stephen Peterson handed the guns over to the Illinois State Police two days later.
Drew Peterson has not been charged in Stacy's disappearance, but has been accused of murder in the 2004 bathtub drowning of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
Testimony Thursday focused on the extent of Stephen Peterson's cooperation with authorities. Sheahan alleged the officer impeded the investigation by not telling police about the guns “until he was caught with them.” But Peterson's attorney, Tamara Cummings, reminded commissioners that the officer agreed to be interviewed multiple times by state police and also allowed cadaver dogs to search his home twice.
Sheahan also testified Thursday that the media attention surrounding Stacy Peterson's disappearance was of such “great concern” that Oak Brook police officials put the officer on special assignment to keep him inside the station.
Peterson said he considers the disciplinary case brought against him harassment, but still hopes to return to work. “I love my job,” he said.
One of the Drew Peterson's guns was an AR15 rifle with an illegal 11.5-inch long barrel, shorter than the 16 inches mandated by state law. Stephen Peterson previously testified that he looked at the weapon in its case only briefly before putting it in his closet. Stephen Peterson was not criminally charged for possessing the weapon.
“There has been no evidence by any witness that Steve had knowledge of the barrel length of that gun,” Cummings said.
Her client “is being penalized for who he is and who his father is,” she said.