The SouthtownStar reports: A Matteson trustee, angry that a village police officer confronted her husband for parking illegally, threatened to have the officer and his supervisor fired, according to a department memo obtained by the SouthtownStar.
Police Sgt. Dave Gryczewski wrote the memo to Police Chief George Pfotenhauer after the incident, which occurred only three days after 22 village employees were laid off.
According to the memo, the argument started after Bridget Dancy’s husband, Johnny Dancy, parked in a fire lane about 7:30 p.m. Jan. 8 outside Subway, 196 Town Center Road.
The officer, Richard Marquis, pulled up behind the car and put on his emergency lights, the memo said. Johnny Dancy came outside of the eatery and asked the officer if he knew who Dancy and his wife were, the memo said.
When Marquis told him he was wrong for parking in a fire lane, Johnny Dancy asked him why he was talking in a loud voice, according to the memo. When Marquis said he was talking in a normal voice, Johnny Dancy said that “things are going to change.”
Marquis gave Johnny Dancy his name, badge number and called his supervisor, Gryczewski, to the scene, according to the memo. Johnny Dancy never was given a ticket.
Gryczewski later met Johnny and Bridget Dancy inside the Matteson campaign office for Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, according to the memo. Brown is running for Cook County Board president, and her campaign office is in the same strip mall as the Subway.
When Gryczewski met with the trustee and her husband, Johnny Dancy said he should not have parked in the fire lane and said he was concerned with how the officer spoke to him, the memo said.
Despite never witnessing the argument, Bridget Dancy said the way the officer spoke to her husband offended her, according to the memo. Gryczewski apologized, and Bridget Dancy suggested Marquis go to to sensitivity training.
Later in the conversation, Gryczewski asked if there was anything else he could do, according to the memo. At this point, Bridget Dancy said, “that if we have to get rid of people, we will. If we have to get rid of supervisors, we will.”
The remarks came after a turbulent week in Matteson. Twenty-two village workers were laid off Jan. 5 in an attempt to plug a $2.3 million budget gap.
Last week, Bridget Dancy said everything in the memo was false, denied she had any kind of confrontation with Gryczewski and claimed “everything was fine” between her and the police department.
“I hope you know I wouldn’t be that insensitive” to threaten someone’s job days after the layoffs, she said. “Our police department does a stellar job, and it’s one of the reasons I moved out to Matteson.”
Gryczewski and Mayor Andre Ashmore did not return calls seeking comment.
Pfotenhauer refused to discuss the matter, other than to say he would conduct an internal investigation to determine who leaked the memo to the SouthtownStar.
In her day job, Bridget Dancy, who was sworn in as trustee in May, works as chief information officer for the circuit court clerk. She is campaigning for Brown.
BRIDGET DANCY
According to a police memo, Matteson Trustee Bridget Dancy claimed she could fire police officers and their supervisors.
Dancy is a relative newcomer to the village board and was sworn in as a trustee in May. In her day job, she works as chief information officer for Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown.
She is campaigning for Brown to be the Cook County Board president.
Read the orginal article from Tribune News Services.