Des Plaines candidate arrested on charges of impersonating official

A Des Plaines aldermanic candidate was arrested Friday on allegations he impersonated a government official, Police Chief Jim Prandini said.

Shortly after filing nominating petitions to place his name on the ballot as a candidate in the city's 6th Ward, Mario Palacios went to the Skokie courthouse Friday to file an ethics statement with Cook County, police said.

After setting off courthouse metal detectors, police said, Palacios presented a sheriff's deputy with a Des Plaines fire and police commissioner badge. Palacios served on the commission until April, when he resigned at the request of Prandini and Mayor Marty Moylan after they said he handed out business cards around town identifying him as commissioner and using the position to gain favors from city businesses.

“Since he has resigned his position as a fire and police commissioner, he is still going around town purporting himself as an official and passing out business cards,” Prandini said. “We were able to confirm at least he was getting half-priced car washes (at) a location in town.”

According to the police report, Palacios, 44, later admitted to the sheriff's deputy that he currently is not a fire and police commissioner and had been given the badge as a souvenir from his wife. The deputy then advised Palacios that it is illegal to represent himself as a government official when he wasn't one, the report states.

Prandini said he asked the sheriff's deputy to seize Palacios' badge and confirm his identity. Palacios left the courthouse before Des Plaines police arrived but later was arrested at his home on the 1900 block of Illinois Street, Prandini said.

Palacios is charged with false personation of a government official, a misdemeanor that could carry a penalty of less than a year in jail if convicted. He posted bond Friday and is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 10.

Palacios did not return a call seeking comment Monday.

Meanwhile, a fourth person filed nominating petitions Monday to represent Des Plaines' 6th Ward. Cliff Matthews joins a field that includes Palacios, Richard Hissong, and incumbent 6th Ward Alderman Mark Walsten, who is seeking his second term in office in the April 5 consolidated election.