BENSENVILLE LAYS OUT CASE AGAINST COP

FIRING SOUGHT FOR ALLEGED THEFT, MISCONDUCT, TAX FRAUD

A Bensenville police sergeant allegedly stole $6,000 seized in drug and
gambling cases, concealed drug trafficking at a bar owned by his parents and
evaded taxes for six years, according to investigators probing the village's
beleaguered Police Department.

In a complaint and accompanying documents filed with the Bensenville Board
of Fire and Police Commissioners on Wednesday, the village expressed its
intention of firing Sgt. Joseph DeAnda, a 16-year veteran of the force who
served as chief of detectives, third in command in the department.

Village officials also asked that DuPage County State's Atty. Joseph Birkett
prosecute DeAnda, 48, alleging that he has committed felony theft, official
misconduct, obstruction of justice, and federal tax evasion and tax fraud.

"There is an expectation by citizens that persons who have taken an oath of
office as a sworn police officer are to enforce laws and maintain a code of
conduct that is beyond reproach," said Village Manager Kurt Bressner in a
statement Wednesday. Bressner also is serving as acting police chief.

"This employee is alleged to have betrayed the public trust in the
Bensenville Police Department," Bressner wrote. "The Village Board has
tackled the very difficult task of setting things straight in the Police
Department. These charges represent the necessary step in that direction to
restore public confidence in their Police Department."

DeAnda, who is on paid leave, declined to comment Wednesday.

His attorney, Richard Reimer, a former Bensenville police officer and
village trustee, contended that the investigation is ignoring improprieties
among other officers while trying to incriminate DeAnda. Reimer said DeAnda
is perceived as "undesirable" by a village administration that wants to
control the Police Department.

But former Assistant U.S. Atty. Theodore Poulos, who conducted the
investigation, said his probe "followed the evidence." He encouraged Reimer
to "step forward" with evidence suggesting misconduct by other officers.

"We have simply laid out the facts as we know them," Poulos said, "and the
facts support felony charges of misconduct."

The village hired Poulos in February 1998, after a January FBI raid on Club
Latino, a Bensenville bar owned by DeAnda's parents, raised questions about
the officer's conduct.

On Feb. 4, 1998, police administrators pulled DeAnda from the post of chief
of detectives. One day later, according to investigators, DeAnda allegedly
gave $6,000 to the acting head of detectives and claimed it was money seized
in drug and gambling arrests in 1992, 1994 and 1995. But Poulos alleges that
the cash DeAnda submitted was not the same as that seized in the drug and
gambling arrests.

The department's evidence-control records, which DeAnda oversaw, indicate
that DeAnda handled the seized cash and deposited much of it in a village
account long before February 1998, Poulos alleges. Poulos also said that
DeAnda's bank records show he withdrew $3,250 on Feb. 4 and 5, 1998.

"After he had come under investigation," the special investigator states in
documents submitted to the police commission, DeAnda "replaced that cash
with other currency with the intent to conceal, cover up and disguise his
misconduct."

The complaint also alleges that DeAnda was an authorized signator and
transacted business for Club Latino, where "cocaine was routinely sold by
employees and patrons."

Poulos said DeAnda knew of the drug trafficking at the bar and concealed it
while completing the bar's liquor license application in 1995-98 and
conducting background checks for the license. DeAnda also orchestrated the
false notarization of the application, Poulos alleges.

The complaint also claims that DeAnda failed to report on his tax returns
$10,010 he earned from an unlicensed and unregistered security firm that he
and several other officers ran from the department from 1985 through 1998.

More fallout is expected from the investigation into the firm, Bensenville
Security Services.

But the department already has suffered. Bensenville had 36 sworn officers
when the investigation began. Since then, the village has added three
officers, but eight have resigned--one of whom has been indicted--or
retired. Those moves recently prompted the Village Board's to allow Bressner
to hire part-time officers.

The village notified Birkett in March that he should investigate DeAnda and
supplied him with information from its investigation. On Wednesday, Birkett
said his office is investigating DeAnda but is awaiting "outstanding
information."

"It obviously is helpful," Birkett said of the material he received from
Poulos, "and we're grateful for it. But we have to conduct our own
investigation."

In addition to calling for DeAnda's firing, Bressner is asking the police
and fire commissioners to suspend DeAnda without pay while they consider
whether to fire him.

DeAnda has been on paid leave since March. The police board is expected to
conduct a hearing on DeAnda by early February. The board's next meeting is
set for Jan. 13 in Village Hall.