Joseph A. Battaglia, a former officer with the Chicago Police Department, has been charged with threatening investigators reviewing the recent death of a lieutenant in nearby Fox Lake, Illinois.
Lake County officials said Mr. Battaglia, 54, telephoned the local coroner’s office on Friday and threatened investigators involved in the case of Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, a Fox Lake police officer who died earlier this month after being shot.
“On September 11, 2015 at approximately 2:00PM, a male subject contacted the Lake County Coroner’s Office via telephone. The subject blocked his telephone number preventing his information from appearing on the caller identification. The subject said he was a ’retired police officer’ and threatened to harm all of the Task Force members, as well as all of the other investigators involved in the death investigation of Fox Lake Police Lieutenant Gliniewicz,” the statement from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office reads in part.
Gliniewicz, 52, was found dead on Sept. 1 after telling dispatchers that he was pursuing three suspects. Last week, Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd said he hadn’t ruled out declaring his death a homicide, suicide, accident or “undetermined.”
According to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Mr. Battaglia threatened Mr. Rudd’s office “unless all the involved personnel declare Gliniewicz’ death a suicide.” He’s also alleged to have called “other police agencies and several media outlets” in the days prior, and possibly tried to pass off false information concerning the investigation to the press.
A probe was opened following the Friday afternoon phone call, and Mr. Battaglia was arrested the next day and charged with two counts of disorderly conduct, both felonies. He’s expected to appear in court on Tuesday this week and meanwhile has been ordered to surrender any firearms and to have no contact with the coroner’s office, the Tribune reported.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that Mr. Battaglia had “zero involvement” in the investigation into Gliniewicz’s death.
“We will not tolerate any behavior which disrupts our investigative efforts. Any intentional criminal acts to distract or impair our investigation will be actively investigated and turned over to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office for prosecution,” Lake County Undersheriff Raymond Rose said.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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