Playful jab or punch? Elk Grove police report details parks commissioner's battery charge
Elk Grove Park District Commissioner Bill O'Malley, who was charged with battery two weeks ago, was pranking a parks employee when he punched the man in the stomach, according to a police report released Thursday.
The 25-year-old employee told police he had finished cleaning the craft room at the Pavilion Fitness Center when he and O'Malley began talking about 4:15 p.m. June 2. O'Malley asked the employee to hold out his hands with his palms facing the ground. When he did, O'Malley punched him in the stomach, according to the report.
O'Malley told investigators he was attempting to play a prank. When the employee didn't fall for it, O'Malley said he gave the employee a "playful, non-malicious jab in the stomach," according to the report.
The employee, however, described the force as the "equivalent to being hit with a baseball bat," according to the report.
The employee told police he felt pain for the next 15 minutes before it subsided. The pain returned and the employee went to the hospital the next morning for treatment, according to the report.
The employee also told police he'd previously had his gall bladder removed.
O'Malley turned himself in to police June 13 and was released on $200 bond for the misdemeanor charge. O'Malley, who has said he's been advised to not speak about the allegations, is due in court July 13.