7-Day Suspension: Joliet Police Sgt. Slapped, Demeaned Eric Lurry

Joliet IL

27 May, 2021

12:30 AM

Description

JOLIET, IL —In one of Al Roechner's final decisions running the Joliet Police Department, the city's departing police chief in January notified Sgt. Doug May he was getting a seven-day suspension in connection with Eric Lurry's death from one year earlier. Joliet Patch learned of the seven work-day discipline issued against Sgt. May in connection with the death of the Black Joliet resident during a Freedom of Information Act request to the Joliet Police Department. The Jan. 4 internal affairs memo from Roechner also informed May that part of the internal affairs investigation was not substantiated against him. Joliet Police Sgt. Doug May pinched Eric Lurry's nose for close to two minutes, restricting Lurry from taking in oxygen, according to a federal lawsuit filed last year naming May as a defendant. (City of Joliet ) May's seven-day suspension came just four days before Roechner's last day on the job. Roechner's memo informed May that "you used disrespectful language, slapped and made other contact with an arrestee. The complaint has been investigated and on the basis of available evidence has been found to be sustained in part and not sustained in part." Joliet Patch visited the police station Tuesday and left a message for May seeking comment about his discipline. He did not call back over the past two days. Roechner and May had worked together closely for many years in criminal investigations. Roechner was the deputy chief of criminal investigations until his promotion to chief of police in August 2018. May has been on the Joliet police force since Jan. 3, 1995. He first became a sergeant in October 2008. Although Roechner waited an entire year before punishing May, the outgoing chief's decision could mean that May won't face a much more harsh discipline, including termination, from the new incoming Joliet police administration that took over in mid-January. Three of Roechner's deputy chiefs were notified they were being demoted by the new administration of Chief Dawn Malec. With Sgt. May's seven-day suspension put in place by her predecessor, Malec in theory, should not be able to undo Roechner's discipline, even if she disagreed with the punishment he imposed against May in the Lurry investigation. After all, a Joliet police officer is not supposed to be punished twice for the same incident. Last year's Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner came under harsh criticism for his handling of the Eric Lurry death investigation. Image via City of Joliet On the other hand, Roechner chose not to impose any discipline against Joliet Police Officer Jose Tellez even though Tellez was responsible for turning off the squad car's audio recording system as Sgt. May was in the back seat slapping Lurry around and calling Lurry derogatory names. Last month, Malec gave Tellez a six-day work suspension for turning off the squad car's recording system while Lurry was in Joliet police custody. The officers were slow to summon to a Joliet Fire Department ambulance to prevent Lurry from dying. Because of Lurry's death, several Black Lives Matter demonstrations and protests occurred across Joliet last year, and many of the demonstrators called for the firing of Sgt. May. Angry Joliet residents held several protests at the Joliet police station last year surrounding the death of Eric Lurry. John Ferak/Patch Last July, Joliet Police Sgt. Javier Esqueda came forward and spoke with CBS Chicago Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Dave Savini suggesting the Joliet Police Department was involved in a cover-up and that police videos in the Lurry case were going missing. During the Lurry police car video, a Joliet officer — now known to be Tellez — turned off the squad car's audio system, that way, nobody would ever be able to hear what Tellez, Sgt. May, Lt. Jeremy Harrison, Officer Andrew McCue and others from the Joliet Police Department were saying to one another. Besides his seven-day suspension, Sgt. May was reassigned to another position at the Joliet Police Department after the city's Black Lives Matter demonstrations occurred last summer. May was taken out the police department drug unit, where he was the supervisor. For the past several months, May has worked a desk-duty supervisory position inside the station. Earlier this week, Joliet Patch broke the news that Joliet has hired Westmont private practice lawyer Sean Connolly to conduct an investigation into the Joliet Police Department pertaining to the death of Lurry. "I gave him no parameters on what to look at," city manager Jim Capparelli said of Connolly. "I'm not going to direct his investigation. As far as Sgt. Esqueda, it is up to him. On June 26, 2020, Roechner stated that he learned from the Will County State's Attorney's Office that the criminal investigation and their review regarding the death of Lurry was done. Will County's Coroner's Office classified Lurry's death as an accident due to heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine intoxication as a result of Lurry ingesting large quantities of narcotics, the chief said. In August, the Chicago law firm of Erickson & Oppenheimer filed a deprivation of civil rights lawsuit naming May, Harrison, McCue and Tellez as defendants. That lawsuit, filed on behalf of recent Joliet City Council candidate Nicole Lurry, contends that her 37-year-old husband died because Sgt. May fatally suffocated him. The following news release remains posted on the website of Erickson & Oppenheimer: