Snub of Stroger draws cheers, mayor's ire

Police officer heroics usually involve crime-fighting.

But a Hoffman Estates cop is being treated by some as something of a cult hero for refusing to shake Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's hand Tuesday.

Stroger was in town to observe a bioterrorism drill at the Sears Centre. As Stroger was being introduced around by Mayor Bill McLeod, officer Vince Pusateri shunned Stroger's handshake, telling him he was "not happy with the way you run the county."

Many readers posted comments on the Daily Herald Web site lauding Pusateri.

"The Hoffman Estates officer has my vote!" said one reader. "I'm glad to see some people stand up to Stroger."

"I nominate Officer Vince Pusateri as our next county board president," wrote another.

But one person who wasn't happy with the officer's actions was McLeod.

"I don't care if people love what he said. What he said was totally inappropriate," the mayor said Wednesday. "It reflects poorly on me, too."

McLeod said people are free to voice their personal opinions on their time, but when they're representing an entire community, as both he and Pusateri were Tuesday, their first responsibility is to professionalism.

"Stroger was very gracious about it, but that's just not how you do business," McLeod said of the officer's behavior. "It was boorish, it was inappropriate and it was regrettable."

Ironically, McLeod noted, Cook County was paying for the local officers on duty for the event.

"Stroger's actually writing the check of the guy who insulted him," McLeod said.

Stroger has been widely criticized in the Northwest suburbs for raising the county's sales tax, which has sparked a renewed movement for the Northwest suburbs to break from Cook County. He also declined to show up at a recent town meeting in Palatine.

McLeod didn't know if the village would take any disciplinary action against Pusateri but said he'd heard Police Chief Clint Herdegen would be speaking to Pusateri about his actions.

Neither Herdegen nor Pusateri could be reached for comment Wednesday.