Wife of Algonquin cop says she lied about being battered

The wife of veteran Algonquin police Sgt. Wade Merritt testified Wednesday she was lying when she repeatedly told a 911 dispatcher, and then sheriff's deputies summoned to her home, that her husband had struck her in the head so hard she fell to the ground.

Merritt, 46, is on trial on charges of domestic battery and attempted obstruction of a peace officer stemming from a March 4 altercation at the couple's Crystal Lake area home, which his wife blamed on a dispute over her husband hiding his drinking from her.

Jacqueline Gappa, his wife of seven years, testified that when she learned he had consumed far more vodka that night than he had led her to believe, she became angry and called 911.

"If I had to get him in trouble for his drinking, or wake him up, I was going to do it," she said during a bench trial before Judge Gordon Graham.

"I was sick and tired of putting up with this drinking (expletive)," she added, looking out at her husband. "I'm sorry, Wade. I'm so sorry."

Merritt, an Algonquin cop for 22 years, initially was placed on paid leave after the incident, but has since been suspended without pay pending a hearing next month before the village police commission.

Prosecutors interrupted Gappa's testimony by playing a recording of the 911 call she made. During the call - which she called the "stupidest thing I could have ever done" - she repeatedly tells a dispatcher that Merritt struck her in the head, and that it wasn't the first time one of their disputes turned violent.

"He hasn't done it in a couple of years, but tonight he's out of control," she said.

When a man's voice, presumably Merritt's, is overheard asking who she is talking with, she states: "I'm on the phone with 911 because you hit me for the last time tonight."

When pressed about the call by Assistant McHenry County State's Attorney Patrick Kenneally, Gappa said she "can be quite dramatic" and denied she was changing her story to save her husband's job.

"He'll lose his job, but we'll stay married," she testified. "I'm not here, Mr. Kenneally, because of his job. I'm here because I made a mistake that night."

Merritt's 10-year-old son later testified that he saw his father swing his arm toward Gappa followed the sound of her falling to the ground, but never saw him make contact with her.

Merritt's trial is scheduled to resume Thursday.