Racism and Intimidation Alleged in Federal Lawsuit Against Lt. Gliniewicz's Estate

A black man once questioned as a potential suspect in the death of Charles Joseph Gliniewicz is now suing the disgraced Fox Lake cop’s estate, claiming the officer illegally stopped, searched and threatened him because of his race.

Vernon Randolph III, 26, was told to “make something happen” for Gliniewicz on the local drug scene or else the cop would “make something happen to him.”

The federal lawsuit also names Fox Lake’s mayor and the village as defendants, alleging they were aware of and condoned repeated harassment at the hands of Gliniewicz.

Randolph, of North Chicago, would often drive to Fox Lake to visit his child. He claims in the lawsuit, filed Friday, that Lt. Gliniewicz began harassing him in October 2014, conducting illegal searches and intimidating him because of his race.

Two weeks ago, Lake County investigators revealed Gliniewicz staged his own death to look like a murder so he could escape the consequences of his own crimes. He embezzled money from his police youth program and plotted ways to set up the town’s village manager, or even take her life.

Gliniewicz claimed two white men and a black man were acting suspiciously in the area where the officer’s body was found on Sept. 1. For a time, police searched for these three men.

Within hours of Gliniewicz’s death, the lawsuit claims, Randolph was “surrounded by ATF agents with guns pointed at him and his child and was subject to search and interrogation.”

Randolph’s father, Vernon Randolph Jr., told ABC 7 Chicago he was certain his son was being set up to take the fall for a police officer’s murder.

The plaintiff is hospitalized now for anxiety stemming from Gliniewicz’s intimidation.

“This is a repeated pattern that was going on over the course of about a year,” said Randolph’s attorney, Kevin O’Connor, in a press conference at the federal building.

“He just basically because of his race and who he was pulled him over, opened the doors of his car, searched through his bags, dumped them out, asked him ‘where are the drugs?’ He said, ‘I don’t have anything to do with drugs.’”

Drugs were never found.

“Officer Gliniewicz had followed him around, had seen him on numerous occasions, making gestures of pointing to his eyes, like I’m watching you and things like that.”

The village of Fox Lake issued a statement Friday in response to the lawsuit.

“It is always the village’s expectation that Fox Lake Police officers treat everyone with professionalism, dignity and respect. If any citizen feels their treatment by Fox Lake police officers in any way falls short of these expectations, we encourage them to file a complaint immediately so proper action can be taken.”

Last week, the Lake County state’s attorney announced that all convictions resulting from investigations Gliniewicz was involved in would be reviewed.