Monday, October 31, 2011

Heideman resigned October 3. Who arrested Henson?

When James Henson was arrested on October 19 while trespassing, was he "arrested" by a person who did not have powers of arrest?

Rumors persist that McHenry County Sheriff's Department employee Jon Heideman was on the scene fast and confronted Henson with his weapon drawn. Is this true?

The sheriff's department isn't saying. The Northwest Herald isn't asking. Or, if it is, it's not reporting any answer that it has gotten.

According to Sheriff's Department employment records, Heideman was appointed as a peace officer on June 7, 2010. He resigned as a deputy sheriff on October 3, 2011.

And then Heideman was appointed to the position of Court Security Officer on October 4, 2011. I wonder ... did he apply for such employment? Go through screening? Go on the eligibility list? How did he get hired so fast?

Generally speaking, doesn't a sworn peace officer lose his peace-officer status, when he resigns from a law-enforcement agency? And did his right to carry a gun stop? Did he identify himself as "Police" or "Deputy Sheriff", when he challenged Henson if, in fact, he did challenge Henson? And what about rumors that Henson was threatened with having his head blown off?

In my FOIA request I inquired about any continuing right to carry or display a weapon by a person employed as a Court Security Officer, but the FOIA response did not answer that portion of my request.

I think Heideman's powers of arrest ended on October 3, two weeks before Henson was arrested. Of course, the sheriff's department is not even saying who was at the scene (or how Henson escaped from the squad car, where he should have been handcuffed and seatbelted in) of Deputy ___?___ (the sheriff's department is not saying who the driver was)).

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