Darien Candidate Under Investigation In 2019 Shooting: Police

DARIEN, IL — Darien police are continuing to investigate a 2019 shooting in which a Darien City Council candidate is a suspect, records show.

John Laratta, who is facing Ward 5 incumbent Mary Sullivan in the April 6 election, complained about police misconduct in the hours after authorities say the shooting happened. But the police chief recently found the complaint was unfounded.

Darien Patch filed a public records request for the police report and the complaint. The police department did not release the report, saying doing so would interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation.

According to a Darien police news release at the time, officers responded to a call of possible shots fired in the 8000 block of Barrymore Drive late the night of Dec. 29, 2019.

When officers arrived, a woman ran away from the house while a man was still inside, the release said. The woman said she heard gunshots and believed her husband had fired two rounds into a pond near the house, police said.

Officers were told the man was still inside and possibly armed. He was eventually talked into leaving the house and taken into custody without any problems, police said.

Darien detectives obtained a search warrant and removed about 30 guns from the house and an unspecified amount of ammunition, according to the news release.

Laratta's complaint indicates he was the man to whom police were referring, but he sharply disagrees with the police account.

In July 2020, Laratta filed a complaint against a police sergeant and others in the incident. He said he was 75 years old, with a 100 percent military service-connected disability.

According to the complaint, Laratta was at his computer in his basement when he received a call from Darien police. They said he must come outside his front door.

Laratta said he figured the police needed help with an emergency, saying he had worked with local officers many times in his dozen years as president of the Bailey Park subdivision's homeowners association.

When Laratta went outside, he was told to put his hands up and get on his belly with hands and legs out. He said it was about 35 degrees and that he had no shirt on.

After Laratta got on the ground, an officer fell hard on his back to handcuff him, re-injuring a recently broken rib, Laratta said.

He said no one would tell him what was happening.

"To no avail, my jeans had dropped down to my ankles while I was trying to walk. The many gathered uniformed personnel started to chuckle, laugh and point at this 75-year-old disabled man, almost naked, jeans fallen down to his ankles with his genitals showing because his underpants were so far down on his legs...," Laratta said.

Laratta said he was taken to the police department's lockup. He said he repeatedly demanded an attorney, but did not get one.

"This continued in the jail, with teams of police officers coming in and out, shouting unrelenting accusations of guilt, even when I told them I wanted an attorney and I wanted to go home," Laratta said in the complaint.

The officers accused him of shooting a gun, but Laratta told them he did not fire a weapon in his house, the complaint said.

This continued for several hours, until Laratta had chest pains, violent shaking and a loss of balance, he said. He was taken to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, where medical tests determined that the chest pains resulted from the weight of the officer handcuffing him, Laratta said.

Laratta said he then was returned to the lockup, where he stayed for another hour and a half.

"Of course, I was discharged from police custody with no charges," he said.

He said the police's unrelenting accusations, demands for guilt and prisoner abuse may work on TV, but not in Darien.

In a letter last month to Laratta, Police Chief Greg Thomas said the complaint against officers was unfounded and that no action would be taken.

"The integrity of the Darien Police Department and its personnel is very important," Thomas said to Laratta. "We consider all citizen complaints a serious matter and appreciate your cooperation in this investigation."

In a statement to Patch, the police department said the investigation into the complaint included interviews and a review of available video and audio of the incident. Thomas said in the statement that allegations in the complaint would have resulted in serious disciplinary actions if they had been proven.

In an interview last week, Thomas said Laratta was not questioned, so the police were not required to immediately provide him an attorney.

Laratta, who has written about the incident in Patch's comments section, could not be reached for immediate comment.