Misconduct charge dropped against one of two accused Des Plaines cops

Misconduct allegations against a Des Plaines patrol officer under temporarily suspension have been withdrawn, while another officer fired last month awaits arbitration in hopes of getting his job back, acting City Manager Jason Slowinski said Monday.

Officer Andy Contreras was expected to appear before the Des Plaines Board of Fire and Police Commissioners last week. Instead, that hearing was canceled after he reached a settlement with the city allowing him to eventually rejoin the force, Slowinski said.

Slowinski did not give a timeline the return of Contreras, a 5-year department veteran who has been on administrative leave with pay for months.

“The charges were dropped. The matter was resolved, and at some point, he will be back to work as a Des Plaines police officer,” he said.

Contreras and fellow patrol Officer John Bueno were charged administratively in February with misconduct then placed on leave as the city investigated allegations received last fall regarding the conduct of a patrol officer.

A 10-year veteran of the Des Plaines police department, Bueno’s employment was terminated March 2. He opted for a neutral third-party grievance arbitrator instead of a public hearing, as allowed by the city’s collective bargaining agreement with the patrol officers’ union, Metropolitan Alliance of Police Chapter 240.

Slowinski refused to share details about the charges against either officer, saying they would be made public in time, “because there is an ongoing issue with the other officer,” he said.