Want to Slap a City Councilman? That’ll Be $500

JOLIET, IL — Can you really put a price on slapping a Joliet City Councilman? The answer is yes, you can, and the cost is a mere $500.

That’s the fine dished out to local real estate broker Mark Koenig, who pleaded guilty Tuesday morning to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct. Koenig was also sentenced to six months of court supervision and ordered to have no contact with the councilman he slapped, 53-year-old Larry Hug.

Koenig, 46, was only charged with disorderly conduct even though he was clearly caught on video repeatedly slapping Hug in the smoking enclosure of the Double J — “Joliet's Favorite Westside Neighborhood Bar!” — on Essington road.

Koenig was arrested in April — eight days after the incident — but a criminal charge was not filed until last month.

Instead of striking Hug, the criminal complaint filed against Koenig merely accused him of pointing at the councilman and “speaking in a loud tone of voice.”

Video obtained by Patch shows Koenig lunging at Hug and — after a series of slaps — blood seeping from the councilman’s nose and down onto his shirt. Hug managed to continue smoking through the violent attack and called the cops on Koenig.

Patch also obtained a recording of Hug’s 911 call. On the call, Hug told a dispatcher, “Yes, my name’s Larry Hug. I just got punched in the face by a patron of Double J’s and I want a police officer out here.”

“It was a verbal disagreement and then he punched me ... in the nose,” Hug explained.

Patch requested police reports on the incident and they were provided — but only after city attorney Marty Shanahan thoroughly redacted them, effectively covering up the statements made by Councilman Hug and witnesses to the attack. Those witnesses include county board member Annette Parker and her husband, Brian Parker, who is employed by the county.

Special prosecutor Dave Neal was appointed to the case because of Annette Parker’s place in county government and her husband’s employment with the county.

Another witness, Carlos Tinoco, has said that — prior to the slap — Hug was “talking s--- about everything and everyone,” that Hug called him a “spic,” ripped on the Marines, and also mocked Channahon’s last two mayors.

“He went too far with his comments and he got bitch slapped,” Tinoco said.

Hug has denied saying anything attributed to him by Tinoco.

Prior to pleading guilty Tuesday — his first court appearance since he was hit with the criminal charge — Koenig voluntarily completed anger management classes, Neal said.