Man falsely arrested by Elgin police in trouble again
A 36-year-old man, who was charged with felony robbery two years ago but released after an Elgin cop admitted he planted a evidence at a crime scene, is in trouble again.
Jose A. Ares-Torres, of the 300 block of Armarillo Drive, Carpentersville, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct at about 1:15 a.m. Thursday in Elgin after police said he made a dozen bogus 9-1-1 calls while drunk.
“He called 9-1-1 like a dozen times after midnight, 1 a.m.,” said Elgin police Commander Dan O’Shea. “He proceeded to call and call, not tell (dispatchers) where he was.”
O’Shea said officers managed to track Ares-Torres down on the 300 block of Mountain Street on the city’s near west side where they found him to be intoxicated and not in any need of immediate police assistance.
“They charged him with disorderly conduct for wasting a lot of officer time and dispatcher time,” O’Shea said.
Ares-Torres’ court date was not immediately available. If convicted of the misdemeanor charge, he faces anywhere from probation to 364 days in jail.
Ares-Torres was arrested in April 2011 and charged wth beating up a man on the street and taking his cellphone. Kane County prosecutors dismissed the felony robbery and aggravated battery charges a few days later after an officer admitted to his supervisor that he planted a cellphone at the crime scene.
Authorities said the officer wanted to look good for his supervisor by finding the phone and maybe land a future promotion.
The officer, Michael Sullivan, was charged with felony misconduct and resigned from his post on the Elgin police force. Sullivan eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor obstruction of justice charges in August 2012 and was sentenced to a month in jail and 200 hours of community service.
Ares-Torres sued Sullivan for damages, but Sullivan filed for bankruptcy in December 2011.
According to court records, Ares-Torres dropped his federal court claim against Sullivan’s estate this past July but still has the option of refiling it in the future.
A message left with Alexander McTavish, who was Ares-Torres’ attorney in the bankruptcy case claim, was not returned.