South Elgin cop charged with domestic violence again
A South Elgin police officer is on administrative leave after he was charged with domestic violence, his second such arrest in three years, authorities said.
Carpentersville police were called just before 11 p.m. Wednesday to the residence of Shane A. Christenson by a neighbor who said Christenson locked a woman out of the house and left, a police report shows.
The police officer spoke with the woman at her residence, and the woman had a fresh cut on her lip and fresh lacerations with blood on her forehead, the report said. The woman told the officer she fell; at first she said she fell in the kitchen, then she said she fell in the bathroom, the report said.
The woman said both she and Christenson had been drinking.
Christenson told the Daily Herald that he did not strike the woman and declined to comment further.
His attorney David Camic didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Christenson was charged with two counts of misdemeanor domestic battery in Kane County and a warrant for his arrest was served Friday, records show. He appeared Friday in court, where bond was set at $5,000. He posted the required 10%, was released and is next due in court Jan. 17.
The Carpentersville police report said South Elgin police were notified of the Wednesday call involving Christenson. South Elgin Police Chief Jerry Krawczyk said Christenson was off duty Thursday and was placed on administrative leave Friday. Christenson's gun now is at the police department, he said.
"Right now we are doing an investigation," Krawczyk said, declining further comment.
The Daily Herald detailed Christenson's arrest record and disciplinary history in a story in December.
Christenson was charged with domestic battery following an arrest in January 2017 in Elgin involving the same woman as in the Carpentersville arrest.
Christenson pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in January 2018. He was going to get a 14-day suspension without pay and random on-the-job alcohol testing for a year, but that was changed in February 2018 to a 20-day suspension without pay and random testing for two years after he admitted he had been drinking alcohol when he was a passenger during a traffic stop in Gilberts.
Christenson was recognized in December 2018, along with another South Elgin police officer, for saving a resident's life.
Daily Herald staff writer Harry Hitzeman contributed to this report.