Grand jury indicts former Schaumburg cops

Three former Schaumburg police officers accused of shaking down drug dealers and peddling narcotics in DuPage County each will face 17 charges when they are arraigned Monday morning.

A DuPage County grand jury Friday handed up a 17-page indictment charging John Cichy, Matthew Hudak and Terrance O’Brien each with two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, three counts of armed violence, four counts of burglary, four counts of official misconduct, two counts of criminal drug conspiracy and one count each of theft and calculated criminal drug conspiracy.

The officers are accused of peddling marijuana and cocaine in DuPage County for at least six months. Prosecutors said they skimmed from police drug seizures and used a former informant to unload the product.

The probe began Jan. 2 when police found about 9 ounces of cocaine inside a Carol Stream storage shed. That bust led to a former police informant who told detectives he had been dealing drugs with three Schaumburg cops who had arrested him on an earlier occasion.

Officials said surveillance efforts captured the officers as they discussed “ripping off” dealers and as they delivered drugs or money to the informant — sometimes while driving police vehicles.

They also were caught on video Jan. 12 breaking into a storage shed in Roselle to steal $20,000 in cash and a stash of drugs.

On Jan. 16, authorities executed 20 search warrants for the officers’ homes, vehicles, work lockers and other areas of the Schaumburg Police Department. Investigators said they recovered $20,000 and obtained incriminating statements from each defendant.

Each of the three men had their $750,000 cash bonds reduced dramatically Thursday by a DuPage County judge. All three remained in custody Friday evening.