Ex-Joliet Deputy Chief Marc Reid Accused Of Phone Tampering: Lawsuit

JOLIET — After a federal judge dismissed former Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk's RICO lawsuit but allowed the plaintiff to refile portions of it in state court, O'Dekirk has followed through on that suggestion. O'Dekirk has named former Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner, former Deputy Police Chief Marc Reid, Joliet City Councilman Pat Mudron, former Councilman Jim McFarland, Shaw Media editor Joseph Hosey and Roechner's wife Nancy as the defendants.

This time around, O'Dekirk's lawsuit will be handled on the mayor's home turf. O'Dekirk is a practicing full-time attorney who is a visible presence at the Will County Courthouse daily. His original lawsuit was filed in Chicago in U.S. District Court.

O'Dekirk's lawsuit contends that the defendants "conspired against plaintiff ... in order to injure him for their own political, economic and career gain."

The lawsuit filing from Palos Heights attorneys Alexander Michael and Michael Ettinger of Ettinger and Associates includes a section titled, "THE CONSPIRACY."

"Roechner, Nancy, Reid, Mudron, McFarland and Hosey formed a cabal that is an association in fact," O'Dekirk's Will County lawsuit contends. "The Association in fact had a purpose to devise a plan or strategy in which Roechner, Nancy, Reid, Mudron, McFarland and Hosey could create a public political backlash against O'Dekirk with the goal of him losing his position as mayor of Joliet and being charged criminally.

"Roechner, Nancy, Reid, Mudron, McFarland and Hosey all disliked or hated O'Dekirk and throughout O'Dekirk's time as mayor, routinely opposed O'Dekirk on votes, goals and interests of the city in the course of O'Dekirk carrying out his duties as mayor."

'O'Dekirk's Demise' Planned Since Summer of 2019: Lawsuit

Former Joliet City Councilman Don "The Duck" Dickinson is not named in this lawsuit as a party. He, however, has his own Will County civil lawsuit against the city of Joliet, plus Reid and Roechner, and Joliet Patch has reported on that case previously.

According to O'Dekirk's re-filed lawsuit, "Knowing that Dickinson was the sort of individual who could easily be manipulated, Roechner, Nancy, Reid, Mudron, McFarland and Hosey used Dickinson as their puppet to hatch their conspiracy and further their scheme.

"During the meeting, Roechner, Nancy, Reid, Mudron and Hosey had a lengthy discussion ... the five of them each agreed and conspired to fabricate false claims against plaintiff O'Dekirk with the sole intention of having O'Dekirk charged with a crime in order to damage his political standing and reputation in the community of Joliet. In turn, this would further their interests and careers."

The lawsuit contends that the five men and Roechner's wife "convinced Donald Dickinson through coercion, intimidation and undue influence to make a false police report against O'Dekirk. Dickinson had previously sent photos of his genitals to an individual with whom he had been romantically involved with. Roechner, Nancy, Reid, Mudron, McFarland and Hosey came into possession of these photos," the lawsuit noted. "Dickinson, feeling compelled under threat of these photos being released and the threat of false criminal charges being brought against him by the other attendees of the meeting, made a report to Reid falsely claiming O'Dekirk intimidated him."

According to O'Dekirk's lawsuit, "O'Dekirk, in reality never had possession of Dickinson's nude photos, nor did he even know of their existence until this scheme became public."

Marc Reid's Role Involved Tampering With Phone: Lawsuit

As far as Marc Reid was concerned, Joliet's deputy chief at the time, "acting in his official capacity as an officer of the city of Joliet, documented these false allegations using an obsolete police form from the city. Reid's report was handwritten which was outside the routine practice of Joliet Police. Reid's report being on an outdated form was also outside the routine practice of Joliet police," O'Dekirk's new filing contends. "The handwritten report on an obsolete form implies that O'Dekirk was using the threat of leaking such photographs to intimidate Dickinson for his political gain. The handwritten report does not identify the source of information for these vague threats and relies on double and triple hearsay of unidentified persons."

O'Dekirk's lawyers say that a three-tiered Illinois State Police forensic exam of Dickinson's phone "did not yield any pictures of his genitals. The investigation did reveal that information was recently erased from the phone prior to the forensic investigation. Reid was the person who recovered the phone and handled the phone prior to turning it over for investigation.

"Reid did not have authority to perform any investigation on the phone and tampered with it," O'Dekirk's lawyers declared. "Reid made two copies of Dickinson's phone. The first was a full copy of the phone which he kept to himself. The second was a copy with only select portions of what was on the phone containing only the things he wanted the ISP and other investigators to see. Reid passed along this second copy with his selected redactions for further investigation. The redacted second copy of the phone removed any evidence of the conspiracy and plans to fabricate evidence against O'Dekirk."

The lawsuit goes on to note that "O'Dekirk was never charged with any crime. O'Dekirk never even possessed any compromising pictures of Dickinson or his genitals and never made any threat of any kind toward Dickinson.

"Hosey, who was also part of the discussions and agreement at the meeting to fabricate these false charges against O'Dekirk, used his position as managing editor at the Herald-News to print a front-page article on November 2, 2020 detailing the allegations in Reid's phony report. Hosey facilitated the printing of the article in the Herald-News knowing that the contents of the report were false," the lawsuit noted. "Nancy (Roechner's wife) at various times in 2021 and 2022 texted Dickinson telling him in essence to 'stick to the story.'"

As far as O'Dekirk's career as a Joliet politician, it came to an end in 2023 when Terry D'Arcy defeated him.

"O'Dekirk's political career was damaged and specifically he lost re-election for Joliet mayor in April of 2023," his lawyers noted. "O'Dekirk is also a practicing Illinois attorney and has lost business as a result of the public allegations."

Plainfield Attorney For McFarland Responds To Lawsuit Re-Filing

Plainfield attorney John Schrock represented McFarland in O'Dekirk's unsuccessful federal lawsuit.

Schrock pointed out that in O'Dekirk's new Will County lawsuit, the former mayor of Joliet included a footnote that "admits that McFarland was not at the meeting but states, with no factual basis, that McFarland "likely had a role in organizing and facilitating it," Schrock explained. "It has been four years since the date of the meeting, the matter has been thoroughly investigated by the Illinois State Police and actively litigated in the Don Dickinson case filed by Frank Andreano. O'Dekirk still does not have one fact showing that Jim McFarland did anything with the so called 'Civil Conspiracy.'"

Related Joliet Patch Coverage:

• Shaw Media Dropped, 7 Defendants Remain In Mayor O'Dekirk's Lawsuit
• Ex-Joliet Mayor Files Federal Suit: Roechner, Reid Among 8 Defendants
• Ex-Chief, Ex-Deputy Chief Conspired To Damage Mayor: IL State Police