Trooper suspensions, county board member's attendance issues pop up in Caramelli-Castro race

A state trooper running for the 22nd Senate District seat unapologetically explained his disciplinary record while accusing his opponent, a Kane County Board member, of lax attendance.

Steve Caramelli, running in the Democratic primary against Cristina Castro, acknowledged Thursday he received at least seven suspensions in his nearly 11-year law enforcement career. He's also a Hanover Township trustee.

Caramelli's suspensions

Among the most significant suspensions from Caramelli's trooper's job: a 10-day suspension in 2010 after he chased a motorcyclist who later fatally crashed; a one-day suspension after “adult” images were found on his work computer in 2009; and a two-day suspension after he pulled his gun on a valet in 2007, he said.

The motorcyclist's death occurred when Caramelli was part of a road safety check on Chicago's South Side. The biker turned around and drove the wrong way along I-57. Caramelli said he gave chase, also going the wrong way, for less than a quarter-mile until the next exit ramp; he stopped after losing sight of the motorcycle.

He was notified about 30 minutes later the motorcyclist died in a crash, he said. “It was devastating. It was an extremely bad time. I still have very strong feelings about it now, after so many years.”

Caramelli said he was suspended for policy violations, including failing to inform a dispatcher he was in pursuit, driving the wrong way on the highway, and pursuing without knowledge of a forcible felony.

The 2009 suspension came after he checked his personal email at work and clicked on spam, which in turn caused ads for “male enhancement” and pharmaceutical sales to pop up and damage his computer's performance, he said. Caramelli said he notified his supervisor.

The 2007 suspension happened when he saw someone chasing another person outside Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights. He followed the two people — who turned out to be hospital valets — into the garage and unholstered his weapon after seeing one of the individuals holding “a large, shiny keychain,” he said. He also used “inappropriate language,” he acknowledged.

“(Voters) have to evaluate that being a state trooper is not an easy business to be in,” he said, adding, “When things happen, you face the charges, you take the discipline — and the job goes on.”

Campaign spokesman Ryan Keith questioned the timing of news about Caramelli's suspensions.

“Some of these things have been out there for years,” he said. “These are the types of things Steve's opponent wants to talk about.”

Castro said she didn't know of Caramelli's suspensions before being contacted by the media. “I emphatically resent” any suggestion of leaking the information, she said, declining further comment.

Meeting attendance

Meanwhile, Castro missed 73 out of 350 county board meetings, or nearly 21 percent, from January 2010 through December 2015, Caramelli said. That includes committees she served on, such as finance and human services.

“If you don't go to work for Home Depot or if you don't go to work as a waitress at a diner, you don't get paid. It's simple,” Caramelli said. “Elected officials should have the same standards.”

Castro said she missed meetings in 2013 and 2014 because she was the primary caregiver for her ailing mother, who died in February 2015. “I balanced my professional, my personal and my political life around her,” she said.

Also, most of her misses stem from committee of the whole meetings, which generally don't entail votes because the substantial work is done in committee, she said.

Caramelli said he empathizes with Castro's family situation, but “there is an obligation, a commitment and an oath that we take to serve our residents.” He also pointed out Castro missed a few meetings later in 2015 and 2016.

Castro, in turn, noted Caramelli missed 5 of 17 meetings as a liaison to the Hanover Township mental health board.

“That is a taxing body,” she said. “He's allocating his vote, he's allocating funds to social service agencies.”

Caramelli said he never failed to discuss pending issues with the mental health board manager. He also pointed to his near-perfect township meetings attendance, with only one miss in nearly three years.

“I think it's extremely important for the taxpayer to understand the importance of making sure that if you take an oath, to be there,” he said. “If you get paid for it, you need to be there.”