Elgin cop fired second time, vows to fight back

Jesus "Jesse" Padron never thought he'd be back here again.

But on Friday, Padron had an unfortunate case of déjà vu after Police Chief Lisa Womack fired the 19-year-veteran officer for the second time in two years.

So Padron, 46, says he's once again gearing up for a fight to win his job back through an arbitration hearing.

Moreover, he said, he can't believe the city terminated him over evidence already discussed when he tried to get his job back during a 2007 arbitration hearing.

"It's like in California with O.J. Simpson. He went to court, he was found innocent and they moved on," Padron said. "The city cannot move on."

Police union Attorney Tim O'Neil on Monday was expected to file an unfair labor charge against the city with the Illinois Labor Relations Board, alleging Padron was improperly fired over documents he brought to last year's arbitration hearing.

"They discharged him for testimony he gave at the arbitration a year ago, which the labor act specifically prohibits," O'Neil said.

O'Neil and Padron attorney Jeff Wilson say their client was fired because he didn't tell Womack in advance about documents he obtained during the department's internal investigation into whether he intended to shoplift from a Carson Pirie Scott department store in Schaumburg.

Padron and O'Neil say they used those papers during the 2007 arbitration hearing and claim they prove the department plotted to leave specific things in the documents out of the hearing to ensure Padron didn't get his job back.

"Two supervisors were conspiring, lying back and forth as to what to do, changing things in the reports and stuff like that. So I got a hold of the report and brought it to my attorney," Padron said.

That hearing occurred nearly a year after the city fired Padron, once its internal probe determined the one-time officer of the year was attempting to shoplift from the store.

An arbitrator in October ruled that Padron be restored without back pay and benefits.

But Padron, who was never charged in the Schaumburg incident and was off duty at the time it occurred, never did return to the streets.

Shortly after the arbitrator sided with Padron, the department put him on paid leave for eight months and stripped him of his police authority while it launched another investigation. Padron, who is now suing the Schaumburg store, estimates he made $51,333 sitting at home.

The investigation reports are not the only thing Padron says caused him to lose his job.

He claims he was also shown the door because he refused to play ball with the city.

Padron, O'Neil and Wilson say the city offered to issue Padron a 30-day suspension for possessing the police report if he promised not to sue the city and to retire from the department in 2012 when he turns 50.

But Padron says he didn't bite because the arbitrator had already ruled in his favor and signing the deal would have meant admitting to something he says he didn't do.

"I said, 'No, this is not "Let's Make a Deal,"'" Padron said. "I'm not going to play that game."

Padron has been in hot water with the police department before.

He was a one-time officer of the year, but was demoted from his detective rank in 2000.

In the 1990s, he was suspended for 30 days after he admitted lying in court to protect an informant.

He also served a pair of three-day suspensions for failing to show up as a witness in a drug case and for fixing a traffic ticket for another informant.

Chief Womack through a spokeswoman confirmed Padron's firing but said she could not comment on personnel matters, referring all questions to the legal department.

The legal department did not return a phone call Monday.