Community to Host Football Tournament For Injured Officer

TINLEY PARK, IL — Friends of Officer Tim Jones are hosting a flag football tournament Oct. 26 at Tinley Park High School. The event is a fundraiser for Jones, who was shot in the head and jaw in the line of duty in 2016, rendering him paralyzed.

Jones, who graduated from Tinley Park High School, was 24 years old at the time of his injury, which occurred when taking an armed burglary offender into custody. He spent 14 months in the hospital and his recovery is ongoing.

Past fundraisers and events from Timstrong #204 have included wine tastings at Vintrendi Wine Company and a letter-writing campaign to send notes of encouragement to Jones on the three-year anniversary of his injury.

“We’d like to see the steady trickle of mail we receive for Tim turn into a flood,” the Park Forest Police Department posted on their Facebook page in March. “If you’d be willing, we’re asking for you to send a card, letter, or note of encouragement to Tim. We’ll be sure to get it to him, and we’re certain it will put that trademark smile on his face.”

The three-block stretch of Lakewood Boulevard outside the police department was renamed Honorary Officer Tim Jones Way in his honor last year. "If it's God's will, he will return to work,” Tim’s father and Country Club Hills Police Chief William Jones said at the ceremony last March. “No doubt about it. And that's how we feel. We're people of faith.”

To register for the 7-on-7 flag football tournament, team captains can email organizers J.P. Garrity and Kyle Rodriguez 204timstrong@gmail.com with a roster of names and respective T-shirt sizes. Teams can have seven to 10 players over the age of 18. The cost is $200 per team via cash or check, which includes a T-shirt, entry to the tournament and food from TacoRia. Flags and equipment will be provided.