Claim denied due to falsified report

I've written several times about Lisa Jarva, a McHenry County resident whose car was hit by a deputy last summer and who has not yet been paid for the damage to her car.

The accident occurred on July 13, 2008.
The crash was investigated by a sheriff's sergeant - not by an outside police agency, which is usually the case.
The initial crash report listed the deputy at fault.
The deputy screamed.
The sergeant changed the report and put the woman at fault.
The falsified report was delivered to the woman and she was told the report was wrong.
The County's 3rd party claims administrator refuses to pay the claim, based on the falsified report.
The Sheriff's Department refuses to correct the report.
The Sheriff does not respond to the woman's letter.

If those involved had any guts, the report would have been corrected the very next day. You bite the bullet. You fix it. You go on. The issue dies.

I've heard from many deputies who are incensed over the handling of that crash report.

Should it be necessary for Lisa Jarva to get a lawyer and sue the County? Her claim should have been paid in August. Now it's the end of March and she still hasn't been paid. Not even close.

If the Sheriff's Department covers up a claim for $5,600 in vehicle damage and stonewalls a County resident with silence, what will it take to shake things up?

As with many things, there is a lot more to the story, such as why the deputy had stopped a motorist there in the first place. And why there were three other squad cars stopped on the shoulder there. And why they had stopped the particular cars they did. And how close they were to an event near Richmond where liquor had been sold all day, without a permit and without arrests for illegal liquor sales.

Motorcyclist Not Ticketed in Crash

A motorcyclist crashed his bike on U.S. 14 last Sunday during the Gavers Community Cancer Foundation charity ride. According to the Northwest Herald, he was eastbound on U.S. 14 near Dean Street, when traffic in front of him slowed and he ran off the roadway, presumably to avoid running into a vehicle stopping in front of him.

While it's nice to know that Woodstock PD didn't spend months investigating the accident, it's curious to me that the motorcycle operator was not ticketed. He was injured and taken to the hospital, and his motorcycle was towed from the accident scene.

The Northwest Herald did not publish the operator's name, nor has there been any follow-up.

I don't recall reading of any other accident handled by Woodstock PD that involved vehicle damage and injuries, when the driver was not ticketed.

Why should he have been ticketed? He failed to maintain control of his vehicle. He crashed his vehicle.

I've been on charity rides and one of the reasons I no longer go on them is that too many motorcycles ride too closely together, operate at speeds in excess of posted speed limits, disregard traffic control devices and generate too much noise. On one ride a pack of about 25 bikes rolled up to a stop sign. The first bike stopped, then went on. All the others, except yours truly, went through the stop sign on the first biker's stop. That was when I dropped back and just enjoyed the rest of the ride alone.

I don't object to the mild rumble of a throaty motorcycle exhaust. What I do object to is when operators "crack" the throttle and cause excessive, unnecessary noise. Also, when they decelerate sharply in lower gears to generate loud, excessive, unnecessary noise. That type of operation generates a black mark for all motorcycle riders.

Was this operator distracted by his buddies alongside or behind him? Was he talking while he was riding alongside another bike? Had he turned his head away from traffic too long and, when he looked forward again, Surprise!

Otherwise, why would he not notice traffic slowing in front of him and adjust his speed accordingly? We can probably rule out text-messaging or talking on a cell phone, although I did see a motorcycle operator the other day with his BlueTooth hanging on his ear. I thought, "There goes another Borg!"

So, what was the real reason that this particular motorcycle operator was not ticketed for something like failure to stop in time to avoid an accident or improper lane usage or following too closely? There is a good reason that the State form is called a Crash Report, not an accident report.

© 2008 GUS PHILPOTT

Deputy Cited in Crash

On Friday, May 16, a traffic crash occurred in Huntley involving a McHenry County Sheriff’s Department patrol car driven by Deputy Ed Sanderson and a Saturn Ion driven by Donald Eberlein.

According to Huntley Police Sgt. Michael Hewitt today, the crash happened at about 4:51 PM on Illinois Route 47, just north of Main Street, in Huntley.

Deputy Sanderson was charged with failure to reduce speed and has a court date of June 23 at 1:30PM in McHenry County Traffic Court. Mr. Eberlein was not issued a citation.

No injuries were reported at the time of the accident. Emergency equipment on the patrol vehicle was not in use at the time of the accident.

Accidents involving law enforcement personnel on- or off-duty may not deserve any special reporting, but the only noteworthy aspect of this crash is that it apparently has not yet been reported in local media. It seems to me that any crash involving a county vehicle or a county law enforcement vehicle (or any law enforcement vehicle) deserves a routine news report at the minimum.

© 2008 GUS PHILPOTT

Squad Car in Accident?

A McHenry County deputy sheriff was reportedly involved in a crash in Huntley while operating his squad car, and he was issued a ticket in the accident. A call to the Huntley Police Department non-emergency number was connected to an answering machine, where a message was left. More details will be provided, as soon as they are available. The tip included the deputy's name, but it will not be published until confirmation by the Huntley P.D.

(c) 2008 GUS PHILPOTT