'I Will Blow You Up At Work,' Will County Officer Banned From Jail

Joliet IL

14 April, 2022

12:37 AM

Description

JOLIET, IL — A Will County correctional officer who sent numerous demeaning and threatening text messages to his ex-girlfriend and threatened to commit a mass killing of the inmates is now prohibited from working in the Will County Jail for two years, a judge ruled. Will County Sheriff's Sgt. Elizabeth Maher, 36, who is represented by attorney Jeff Tomczak of the Tomczak Law Group, convinced Will County Judge Thomas Carney to keep Will County correctional officer Louaai Tomalieh, 40, away from her place of employment as part of her order of protection petition. The judge announced his decision last week after taking the evidence under advisement. Tomalieh is now prohibited from entering the Will County Jail, 95 South Chicago St., in downtown Joliet, even though he has worked there for several years as a correctional officer. The judge's ruling will remain in effect for the next two years, which is the maximum time period that can be imposed under the order of protection, Tomczak told Joliet Patch. Besides sending her sexually explicit photos and threatening to ruin her life, Tomalieh sent Sgt. Maher several text messages last year, writing about how he wanted to kill the Will County Jail inmates, according to courtroom testimony. It was also revealed during the March 30 protection order hearing that Joliet Police Detective Jason Wolski is investigating Maher's case. "Yes, he is," Maher testified. No criminal charges have been filed. Maher and her ex-boyfriend both have worked in the Will County Jail, where he was a deputy on the emergency response team. "They respond to emergencies or fights or whatever situation is happening throughout the jail when a response is called," Maher testified. "Your honor ... we've got an increased amount of surveillance at the home, at the parents' home, text messages," Tomczak told Judge Carney. "A number of them are harassing, in the hundreds, some days. Many of them are demeaning. There is also threatened text messages that are all threatening to my client and also to some of the inmates at the jail." Image via Google Maps Last August, after Maher broke off her romance with Tomalieh, the Will County Sheriff's Office correctional officer sent Maher a text message with a picture of her front door and photos of her parents' home with her car outside, according to her testimony. "Was there ever a period of time when, if ever, did the respondent ever show up at your home uninvited?" Tomczak inquired. "Yes," Maher testified. "There was one time he showed up in my house. There was another time he was in my backyard. And then on Aug. 25 he showed up at my house and my parents' house." On one occasion, Tomalieh saw Maher's new boyfriend driving her car, and spoke with him. "And after that occurred, did you also receive text messages from the respondent, indicating that you were cheating on him with a new Arab boyfriend?" Tomczak asked. "Yes, I did," Maher testified. Tomczak asked his client if there was ever a period of time when Maher felt it was important to let the Will County Sheriff's Office know what was going on about the threats and harassment from Tomalieh? "Yes, I did," Maher testified. A portion of Will County Sheriff's Sgt. Elizabeth Maher's order of protection petition against corrections officer Louaai Tomalieh. Image via John Ferak/Patch On another instance, Tomalieh sent her several text messages informing her that he has clout inside the Will County Sheriff's Office, according to her testimony. In one of his texts, Tomalieh wrote, "Remember, I have more juice than you can ever imagine." "The word juice. What does that mean?" Tomczak asked his client. "Connections or clout," Sgt. Maher replied. Last Aug. 17, Tomalieh sent her a text advising, "Be careful, boo. Vinnie is watching you on camera and everything that happens. I had a lot to tell you, but I guess it doesn't matter." "He is referring to the chief," Maher told the courtroom. "It's Vinnie Perillo ... he is a chief in the jail." "OK. So he would be in a position to be looking at what's going on in the jail, including at your location?" Tomczak asked. "Correct," Maher answered. On March 30, Maher was asked to tell the Will Counthy judge how many text messages she was getting from Tomalieh after she broke off their romance in August. "At least a hundred or hundreds," she testified. "I'm not sure." "And there were times when you told him please stop, is that correct?" "Correct." "And it didn't stop, did it?" "No." "Would you describe some of the text messages to be demeaning?" "Yes." "Threatening?" "Yes." "Harassing?" "Yes." In one of his texts, Tomalieh wrote, "Wallah, you're a (expletive) c***," Maher testified. "It's an Arabic word that means I swear to God." In another text, Tomalieh wrote, "Wallah, I'll call you nonstop at work," Maher told the judge. In addition to getting texts stating, "You (expletive) lying ho," another message from Tomalieh stated, "Bes, wallah, I'm going to destroy you," Maher testified. "And that's that word wallah again?" Tomczak asked. "Yes." "That means swear to God?" "Yes." Attorney Jeff Tomczak convinced a judge to prevent Corrections Officer Louaai Tomalieh from setting foot inside the Will County Jail. File/John Ferak/Patch Last Aug. 11, Tomalieh sent Maher a text stating, "I will blow you up at work," she testified. "Now, was there a period of time ... where he was threatening to kill inmates?" Tomczak asked. "Yes." One of Tomalieh's text messages, last Aug. 17, stated, "I almost lost my job today and yesterday because I wanted to kill inmates, and I had to be calmed down," Maher read for the judge. "I was literally shaking from anger. I need time off work." In another text from the same day, Tomalieh wrote Maher, "Danhour kept me at 7604 and Hammie begged me not to do anything and Coppes, so I went to day room one, and they begged me not to say anything so I don't lose my uniform. And they said it wasn't as bad as I thought. And I said I was going to kill every mother (expletive) in D pod. I was going to go in and burn that bitch. I even thought about bringing my gun inside and just killing them all and then turning myself in. So I'm taking time off because I will kill someone and end up in cuffs." In a text from two days later, on Aug. 19, Tomalieh wrote, "I think about bullets in heads all day." At that moment, Judge Carney spoke up. "I think about bullets and what?" the judge asked. "In heads all day," Maher testified. Tomczak asked his client to keep reading the rest of Tomalieh's text message. "I think soon I'm going to do something real bad," she read. Tomalieh is represented by former assistant Will County State's Attorney Daniel Walsh, who is now in private practice, focusing on criminal defense litigation. Walsh urged Carney not to impose an order of protection that prohibited his client from working inside the Will County Jail as a correction officer. Walsh argued that his client would lose his job at the sheriff's office if the judge did that. "Judge, I would submit that it's clear from the context of those (messages) that while there are comments regarding inmates at the jail, it is clear that I think it's somebody just letting off steam with a coworker," Walsh said, referring to Tomalieh. "I got mad at the inmates in D pod today. Judge, I'm sure you've been flooded with inmates who are coming in here seeking orders of protection against my client once they heard about these threats. "I think that that's clear that that's what it is ... the texts that reference inmates directly are not admissible into evidence," Walsh added. Tomczak, on the other hand, insisted that the internal affairs unit for Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley has already issued its discipline against Tomalieh, giving him a job suspension of about three weeks. Tomczak told the judge that Tomalieh is not in danger of losing his job, and Kelley can reassign him to other duties, including prisoner transports. "Judge, he's been disciplined already," Tomczak told Carney. "He's been disciplined ... Now, we might disagree with the discipline that he was given. It's done. He's already been disciplined. He is a union member. There is no evidence he is going to be fired. So it's something to take into consideration." "So do we agree that he's back working at the jail now?" Judge Carney inquired. "He is not back working at the jail," Walsh replied. "Because this is going on here still," Tomczak pointed out. "Judge, I think they are waiting to see. And I obviously wanted you to hear the evidence before you made a decision." At left, Joliet attorney Dan Walsh with Will County correctional officer Louaai Tomalieh as they leave the Will County Courthouse on March 30. John Ferak/Patch