6 officers, dispatcher accused in misconduct sweep

EAST ST. LOUIS, — Six police officers and a dispatcher in southwestern Illinois face corruption charges ranging from wrongly collecting unemployment benefits to stealing bullet-resistant vests, tipping off a fugitive that his arrest was imminent and receiving sexual favors during a traffic stop.

St. Clair County’s top prosecutor and law enforcement administrators detailed the charges Thursday that allege misconduct dating to 2008, saying the crackdown targeted officers whose suspected wrongdoing might undermine public confidence in police.

“Law enforcement that violate the law and betray their oaths are a threat to the integrity of the justice system,” said Brendan Kelly, the county’s state’s attorney. “Law enforcement that violate the law are the enemy within, and they must be confronted.”

The 16 charges filed Wednesday — 12 felonies and four misdemeanors — involve officers from five of the county’s police agencies, many in communities that are among the state’s poorest and are plagued by corruption and embezzlement that have tapped their coffers.

It was not immediately clear if the crackdown would spawn federal charges over whether any of the officers abused their authority or committed civil-rights violations. It also was not clear whether any of the incidents were connected.

Those accused included Harry Halter, who according to the criminal complaint was off-duty as a police officer in the village of Alorton on New Year’s Eve 2008 when he used his patrol car to pull over a 30-year-old woman outside his jurisdiction for driving with a suspended license. Halter, 51, allegedly received oral sex from the motorist in exchange for not arresting her.

Halter, who court documents allege had been drinking before the questioned traffic stop, is accused of one count of felony official misconduct.

Prosecutors allege that Shantez Lockett was working as an East St. Louis police dispatcher June 28 when she sent a text message that tipped off a fugitive through another man that authorities were closing in to arrest him. Lockett, 35, then obstructed justice by deleting the text, according to the criminal complaint charging her with two counts apiece of official misconduct and obstruction.

Tina Presson, as a former Fairview Heights policewoman, and onetime Washington Park policeman Jeffrey Waters, 60, are accused of official misconduct and misdemeanor theft. Presson, 43, allegedly stole a cellular telephone from an AT&T kiosk while probing a crime scene in December 2008, while Waters supposedly pilfered nine bullet-resistant vests in January that Illinois State Police had planned to donate to cash-strapped police agencies.

Larry Greenlee, 39, and Beverly Miles, who turned 39 on Thursday, stand accused of official misconduct and state benefits fraud for wrongly collecting unemployment compensation in August and September of last year while working as police officers in East St. Louis.

And in Belleville, police officer Sean Harris was charged with official misconduct and misdemeanor battery, accused of being unjustified and unprovoked in grabbing and shoving 55-year-old resident Mark Bush in June.

Saying he has a bipolar disorder and is mentally challenged, Bush has told media outlets that Harris responded to Bush’s home to investigate harassing telephone calls Bush said he had been receiving. After Harris refused to take a report and was asked for his supervisor’s name by Bush as the officer began to leave, Bush claims, Harris grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground, inducing a seizure when Bush hit his head on a concrete patio.

Online court records do not indicate whether any of the defendants have an attorney.

Lockett of Belleville, Miles of East St. Louis, Presson of Highland and Waters of Jerseyville have unlisted home telephone numbers. A message left at Halter’s Cahokia home was not returned. Harris declined to comment when reached at his Belleville home.

Greenlee denied the charges, saying “I’m a helluva cop.”

“I`m a great cop, and I really don’t appreciate what East St. Louis is doing to me at this time,” Greenlee told reporters after posting bail. “For one, they`re ruining my life, and I really don`t appreciate it. There’s a lot more things East St. Louis could be doing to clean out their city hall, except for good cops.’