Police: Mechanic made threats about city vehicles

Less than a month after West Chicago privatized its vehicle maintenance department, one of its new contractor’s employees suggested he would sabotage city vehicles, according to police.

Authorities said the 39-year-old man was arrested shortly before 2 a.m. Nov. 20 after police saw him urinate on a vehicle at a restaurant on the 900 block of East Roosevelt Road in West Chicago.

According to a police report, the man, who was drunk, became agitated during his arrest and “repeated several times that he works for the city of West Chicago as a mechanic.”

“(He) asked how we would like it if a wheel on a police car would fall off while responding to a call,” one officer wrote. “(He) denied he wanted to hurt the police but reminded us he works for the city as a mechanic.”

Mayor Michael Kwasman said the worker was swiftly terminated by Municipal Management, the contractor hired last fall to sweep streets and maintain city vehicles.

“We wrote him up, went to his boss, and his boss fired him,” Kwasman said. “It happens. End of story. You get rid of the bad apples.”

The mayor, defending the city’s decision to privatize the department, added that firing a municipal employee, rather than a subcontractor, would have been more expensive.

“We would have to go through the union and disciplinary hearings,” he said. “It would cost thousands of dollars in legal fees if we had to do it a different way.”

According to DuPage County court records, the worker was charged with public urination, an ordinance violation. A warrant was issued for his arrest after he failed to appear in court March 1, records show.