CHAMPAIGN POLICE DEPARTMENT of 5 03/31-04/02/2015 12:00 04/03/2015 17:41 DOW Friday Corporate Address Person Was: Address 512 SNElL CHAMPAIGN, IL 61820 Telephone (217)607-1123 Corporate Address, License Number/State VIN Person Was: CHAMPAIGN, IL 61822 Emp. Address 512 SNElL CHAMPAIGN, IL 61820 DL# IL Emp. Address (when occurred) DL# IL \';>J-\IL..t: Jt:I"J-\U B
WITNESS CONTO. Page 2 of 5 y CITY OF CHAMPAIGN Emp. Address,IL Emp.Tel. Unknown SSN 000-00-0000 OL# IL Address Telephone URBANA, IL 61801 Emp.Tel. Unknown (when occurred) OL# IL Emp. Address Emp.Tel. Unknown (when occurred) OL# Recommended Action RETAIN UNTIL NO EVID. VALUE Loe 5128. NEIL 8TREET I ~On April 03, 2015 ~ocated at 512 S. Reporting Officer: GALE,JERAD B at 1758 hours I arrived at Hollywood Liquors Neil Street in Champaign, Illinois to speak officer's initials ±ft--. approved ~'t' NARRATIVE CONTO.
NARRATIVE CONTD. with about instances of threats that he had received tlf,egarding his businesses over the last few days. Sgt. J. Yandell #941 accompanied me to the business. Page 3 of 5 I spoke with inside the store while Sgt. Yandell spoke with Don outside in the parking lot. Don came to the business after he was contacted by the News-Gazette newspaper regarding the incidents that was reporting to me. told me that on March 29, 2015 an individual (later identified as came into Discount Gas, the business that he owns at 102 S. Mattis in Champaign, and stated to staff at that location that he was an individual in a pos ion just under the City of Champaign Liquor Commissioner. went on to say that told staff members that he was performing "compliance checks" and that they would have a lot to lose should their liquor license be revoked. said that staff told him that then stated that he would appreciate it if s f members 4Ir0sted signs at the business supporting Mayor Don Gerard's current re-election campaign for Mayor of the ty of Champaign. staff complied with this request. came to Discount Gas the next morning and noticed the signs. said that his business is not in the interest of supporting any particular political entity so he asked his staff why the signs were on the property. said that his staff told him about instructed his staff to take the signs down and keep them in the back room to return to should he come back to the store. was contacted by a f member at Discount Gas the next day and told that came back by Discount Gas and was angry that the signs were no longer on display. Staff members told that stopped and asked to speak to the owner because he drove by the business and saw that the signs were gone. ~Staff advised that threatened to revoke their liquor "'license. was directed to speak with and was told Reporting Officer: GALE.JERAD B officer's initials~ approved ~"'-"5I'-L-''-'---- NARRATIVE CONTD.
NARRATIVE CONTO. Page 4 of 5 that he could be found working at Hollywood Liquo~s. ~a said that the next day (April 02, 2015) came into Hollywood Liquors to speak to him. described as wea ng a sweatshirt that said "Trust Me, I'm a Lawyer" and pointed him out to me in a black and white still photograph taken from the camera system in the store. attached to this report. That photograph is said that was extremely loud and appeared to be upset with. said that also told him that he was in a position just under the City of Champaign Liquor Commissioner and that he was performing "compliance checks" on businesses in the area. said that started walking around the store, looking at liquor, and commenting on how much was in the store and how much the business would suffer should the liquor license be revoked. said that was overbearing, intimidating, and pointing at him while speaking in jlfeloud voice. said that he felt bullied and felt as if ~ needed to protect his business and his family. said that license for the business was valid. then began asking him if the liquor said that he pointed to the liquor license which was posted nearby on the wall and remarked that it was indeed valid. then remarked to that he needed to post signs supporting Mayor Gerard's campaign or his liquor license would be revoked and he would go out of business. said that he told he could do anything he wanted to his liquor license because his businesses were not interested in helping any political party gain or lose anything. said that he asked to col the signs from Discount Gas and leave. then left the building. said that he intended to call the Champaign Police Department immediately, but that he became busy and was not able to call until our contact on April 03, 2015. i.a said that the incident at Hollywood Liquors was captured Reporting Officer: GALE,JERAD B officer's initials ~ approved I NARRATIVE CONTO.
Page 5 of 5 NARRATIVE CONTD. video and he played the video for me, Sgt. Yandell, and Don. 4Ifon identified the (then) unidentified man as, and stated that is a volunteer working for his campaign for mayoral re-election. was then contacted, as he is the Campaign Manager that would be in charge of. stated that he drove to Hollywood Liquors a er stopping at Discount Gas to inquire as to why the support signs had been removed from that business. stated that he stayed in the car while went inside and did not hear the conversation. See Sgt. Yandell's supplemental report for information regarding interviews with both provided me with a flash drive containing the applicable video and I transferred that video to a CD-R at the Champaign Police Department. That video has been packaged and entered into evidence. It is of note that video system does not record sound, so the conversation at Hollywood Liquors can 4IfnlY be watched, not heard. Further. Miscellaneous/Leads ifs Signature of Reporting Offi~gJo;f-rf'7 I da~'-ii01120/,!) No secondary dissemn1llldtion without consent from Champaign Police Dept. Reporting Officer: GALE,JERAD B officer's initials ~ approved @c:r,*:l'
CHAMPAIGN POLICE DEPARTMENT SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT 1 of 5 SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT: On 04-03-15 1 I was working as a uniformed sergeant with the Champaign Police Department I when I responded to the Hollywood Liquor Store at 512 S. Neil Street along with Officer Gale I in regards to a threats complaint. Officer Gale had called me prior to responding to this location l at which time he explained that he had been dispatched to this location for a threats report. Officer Gale further explained that he had called the reporting person prior to responding and had learned that the threats were related to the business not supporting the placement of political "yard signs" on their property. He advised that the reporting person was making allegations that a representative of the Mayor Don Gerard campaign had made threats to have his liquor license revoked if he did not display Mayor Gerard's yard signs on their property. Upon arrival at Hollywood LiquorI I met with Officer Gale. He responded inside the store while I was waiting in the parking lot. I met with Mayor GerardI who.spoke briefly with the Mayor I at which time he offered that someone had allegedly used his name and campaign to threaten the business owner. He explained that he has several volunteers that work for his campaign l although none of them are assigned with specific tasks l sign placement to businesses. such as He offered that someone may be attempting to sabotage his campaign and that the person l made these threats are not even associated to his campaign l team. who We then entered the Hollywood Liquor Store together l where we met with the owner and Officer Gale. Officer Gale showed a Reporting Officer: YANDELL,JACESON ~fficer's initials approved ~q'i' NARRATIVE CONTO.
Page NARRATIVE CONTO. still photograph to Mayor Gerard, which was of the person who had made the threats to the business owner. The still photograph had been captured from the in-store video surveillance camera system. Mayor Gerard advised that he did not recognize the subject in the photograph, however commented that the picture quality was not good. The store owner then offered to have him and the police view the actual video, which was of better quality. All parties then viewed the video, at which time Mayor Gerard was able to identify the subject as,. He stated that is a volunteer for his campaign and that one of his volunteer duties consisted of soliciting community members to place yard signs on their properties. 2 of 5 Mayor Gerard professed that he would never have anyone associated to his campaign act in the capacity as this person did, nor would he allow anyone to represent themselves as being associated to the Liquor Commission Office. During the investigation, Officer Gale obtained the identifiers of and Mayor Gerard's campaign manager, who was identified as. I later contacted both subjects via telephone, where I conducted interviews with them in regards to this investigation. offered the following information in part: * He stated that he is the campaign manager for Mayor Don Gerard. * He advised that is a volunteer with the Gerard campaign and that receives payment for gas and other miscellaneous expenses while working on the campaign. * He stated that yesterday (04 02-15), he and were riding together when they passed the Discount Gas Station, located at Mattis Avenue and University Avenue. He was aware that had placed Hyard signs" at this business sometime earlier in the week, however the signs were not present when they passed Reporting Officer: YANDELL,JACESON officer's initials approved NARRA"rIVE CONTO.
NARRATIVE CONTO. * They stopped at the business, where he went inside to inquire about the signs whereabouts. * The employees told him that "Corporate" would not allow them to display the signs, therefore they had taken them down. employees told him that they did not throw the signs away, however they had stored them in a storage room. The The employees relinquished the signs to him, at which time he gathered the signs and left the store. * When he returned to the car with the signs, he told that the employees had told him that IICorporate ll would not allow the signs to be displayed. He said that told him that he knew the owner of the business and directed him to respond to the Hollywood Liquor Store, where the owner could be located. * He then drove to the Hollywood Liquor Store, where went inside. He waited in the car and conducted email and text business on his phone. * A short time later, emerged from the store and told him that the business would not allow them to display the political signs on their property. * I asked if he believed that could have made the threats of having the business liquor license revoked, if they did not display the signs. He stated that is a loud and fast talker and that he becomes very animated when he talks, which could be interpreted as being intimidating, however he was not present during the conversations with the employees or the business owner, therefore he could not be certain what was said. * He stated that when re entered the car at Hollywood Liquor, he did not relay that there had been any type of altercation. He further stated that did not appear to be "worked up" or red faced, as if he had been in an argument. Page 3 of 5 At approximately 1925 hours I made contact with via telephone. When he answered the telephone, I introduced myself and told him the reason for the phone call. I explained to him that I was investigating the incident involving the political "yard signs" for Mayor Gerard. I asked if we could meet in at which time he responded by stating, "I'm not going to officer's initials approved NARRA nve CONTO.
Page NARRATIVE CONTD. do that, your going to arrest me. II I explained that I was not going to arrest him and that I needed to get his side of the story, in order to properly document the incident. As I explained this to he interrupted me several times, telling me that he had been a defense attorney and that he knew what I was trying to do. It was apparent that was not going to cooperate and meet me in person, therefore I conducted the interview via telephone. He offered the following information in part: 4 of 5 * He stated that he is volunteering on Don Gerard's Mayoral campaign and that he also helped on the last campaign. * He explained that he went to the Discount Gas Station four days ago, where he met with the employees of the store. He talked to them for a few minutes, where he told them that Mayor Gerard supports them and in fact Mayor Gerard was the first to give a liquor license to a minority in this community. * The store employees agreed to put the political signs on their property, at which time he left two signs with them, which were displayed on the property. * Yesterday (04-02-15) he drove by the store and noticed that the signs were not displayed anymore. After learning that they could not display the signs, he responded to the Hollywood Liquor, where he met with the owner's son. * He stated that he is friends with the owner of the business, however he is not friends with the son. He stated that he believes that the son does not like him, but did not explain why. * He stated that when he. met with the son at Hollywood Liquor, they talked for a few minutes about displaying the signs and he then left after learning that they would not let them display them. * I explained to him that the store owner and employees of Discount Gas were accusing him of threatening them with their liquor license being revoked if they did not comply with the signs being displayed. He adamantly denied making any threats towards them and further denied representing himself as being ';:,---;':~ Reporting Officer: YANDELL,JACESON officer's initials approved @q..., NARRATIVE CONTO.
Page 5 of 5 NARRATIVE CONTD. employed with the liquor commission. * He stated that he did not have anything to do with this and that this incident was going to ruin his reputation. * He ended the conversation with stating that I didn't have probable cause to arrest him and that all I had, was him pointing. This reference to IIpointingll, I believe is him referring to him pointing at the liquor license that is displayed on the wall of the Hollywood Liquor Store. It should be noted that during the review of the video surveillance from the store, can be seen pointing towards the wall as he is having a discussion with the employee behind the counter. owner advised that when he was pointing, he The was pointing at the liquor license and telling him that he could have the license revoked, because he is "second in charge ll Commission. at the Liquor During this investigation, I contacted Lt. Rea and briefed him on the allegations and situation. This concluded my involvement with this incident. Copied By: Entered/Filed By: Miscellaneous/Leads #'s Signature of Reporting Officer I date '1-.3.. ~~