Authorities are investigating a Metro East police officer after allegations he stole criminal evidence from his own police department.
The investigation centers around former police officer Christopher Heatherly. St. Clair County State's Attorney Brendan Kelly publicly brought up accusations against him in a letter written to Brooklyn's mayor two days ago.
That letter was obtained by the Belleville News-Democrat.
On Wednesday Illinois State Police and county sheriff's deputies served the department with a search warrant issued by Kelly. Heatherly is being investigated for taking an AR-15 type rifle out of evidence that police had seized during a pending criminal case. Along with the rifle, ammunition and a "suspected controlled substance" were also seized and have yet to be located.
NewsChannel 5 does not know when Heatherly left the department or in what capacity, meaning if he resigned or was fired. We have reached out to the Brooklyn mayor and police chief about the investigations, but have been referred to their attorney. The attorney has not returned our phone call.
Thursday NewsChannel Five learned of another investigation involving potentially illegal towing practices.
We now know that the Brooklyn police department may have violated a district policy when it comes to towing vehicles.
The St. Clair County State's Attorney, Brendan Kelly, sent a letter to the Mayor of Brooklyn.
According to the document, residents in Brooklyn have been complaining about towing practices.
The investigation discovered that the Brooklyn Police Department is using a Swansea tow shop that is also owned by the relative of a police officer.
The state wrote that Brooklyn officers have stated they feel pressured to tow vehicles to generate revenue for the police department for payroll.
