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Police to give update about Gliniewicz case Chicago-area news outlets report death is believed to be suicide By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com FOX LAKE – Authorities on Wednesday will hold a news conference, which is expected to reveal “significant new” developments in the shooting death investigation of Fox Lake Police Lt. Joseph Gliniewicz. Several Chicago-area news outlets o n T u e s d a y Lt. Joseph reported au- Gliniewicz thorities will announce Gliniewicz’s death is believed to be a suicide, citing an anonymous source. Lake County Sheriff’s Detective Chris Covelli issued a release shortly after such reports surfaced that the sheriff’s office will have no comment on that or other reports until the news conference Wednesday. “There will be conclusive results of the investigation announced tomorrow,” Covelli said, also urging media to refrain from reporting rumors, innuendos, hearsay and speculative information. The news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Round Lake Beach Civic Center, 2007 N. Civic Center Way, Round Lake Beach, Covelli said in a news release. A question-and-answer portion will follow the “significant new information.” Sunday marked two months since Gliniewicz, 52, was fatally shot near a former concrete plant at 128 Honing Road in Fox Lake. “We’ve been diligently investigating [the case] since day one,” Covelli has said. “We’ve had developments that are new and significant that we will be discussing [Wednesday].” He added he thought the case “definitely” would be wrapped up by the end of November. Authorities have discerned Gliniewicz was shot twice with his own gun, once in the front right of his vest and once in the upper-left chest, but gun residue tests have not indicated whether it was Gliniewicz or someone else who fired his .40-caliber service weapon. Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd has not yet ruled Gliniewicz’s death a
Live coverage:
Breaking news reporter Katie Dahlstrom will be covering the 10 a.m. news conference Wednesday regarding Fox Lake Police Lt. Joseph Gliniewicz’s death investigation. Follow her on Twitter at @K_Dahlstrom for live updates.
News sent to your phone: To receive breaking news text alerts from the Northwest Herald to your mobile phone, sign up at NWHerald.com.
On the Web: To see
a timeline of events leading up to Gliniewicz’s death, visit NWHerald.com. homicide, suicide, accident or undetermined. Victimology reports from both the Lake County Major Crime Task Force and the FBI will be submitted to Rudd, said Covelli, who also has said the task force report is expected within the next one to three weeks. The FBI has remained involved in the case, although Covelli also said some field agents initially part of the investigation stopped working because they no longer were needed in as great of numbers. “They’re working with us side by side,” he said. The FBI still has a tips site set up seeking information about the case. Three DNA samples collected at the scene that were of quality to be run through the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, also known as CODIS, have not matched any samples in the system, Covelli said. Surveillance video also failed to provide substantial leads early in the investigation. The squad car Gliniewicz was assigned to did not have a dashboard camera, and no surrounding cameras captured him on video. Gliniewicz had been in the area of 128 Honing Road – he previously had been assigned to patrol the area, which is known for graffiti, drugs and squatting – for about 20 minutes before he radioed to
Photos by Katie Dahlstrom – kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com
ABOVE: A fire rips through the Polk family home Tuesday at 6015 Blue Court, Crystal Lake, after an explosion about 6:30 a.m., displacing the family of nine who lived there. Family members said seven people were home at the time and able to escape before their home was reduced to a charred frame. BELOW: Friends and family comfort each other while water is blasted onto the Crystal Lake home that was on fire.
House fire displaces Crystal Lake family Prairie Ridge High School student among 7 who escaped By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – Shirley Polk clutched the blanket draped over her shoulders as she watched flames ravage her home Tuesday. A fire ripped through the Polk family home after an explosion about 6:30 a.m., displacing the family of nine who lived there. Family members said seven people were home at the time and able to escape before their home was reduced to a charred frame. “Twenty-three years up in smoke,” Shirley Polk said from the street. “My husband’s urn, my mother’s China cabinet. Everything had a memory.” Crystal Lake Fire Rescue District Chief Paul DeRaedt said firefighters were dispatched to the home at 6015 Blue Court after receiving a 911 call that the family was escaping and flames were showing from the basement, where it appeared the explosion occurred. He said
by the time the first crews arrived, the home was fully engulfed. John Polk, 17, said he was getting ready to go to Prairie Ridge High School when he smelled smoke. He said he thought it was someone burning leaves nearby, but then he saw dark smoke billowing from the basement and heard an explosion. His brother and sister
were thrown against a wall, and his mom, Shirley, was thrown against the stairs, he said. John Polk said he grabbed his little brother from upstairs and they fled from the home. Once outside, he said he realized his older brother, Joe, still was in the basement sleeping. “I just grabbed the biggest rock I could and
See FIRE, page A6
On the Web: To see more photos and video from the scene at 6015 Blue Court in Crystal Lake, visit NWHerald.com.
How to help: A friend
of the Polk family started a GoFundMe page to raise $10,000. To donate, visit http://shawurl.com/28a6.
See GLINIEWICZ, page A7
County Board taps GOP’s pick, Jeff Thorsen, to fill vacancy By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – The McHenry County Board went with the county Republican Party’s pick to fill the remaining term of former board member Ken Koehler. Board members voted Tuesday, 21-2, to appoint Crystal Lake City Council member
Jeff Thorsen to serve the reChairman Joe Gottemoller mainder of the term, which ex- advanced Thorsen after conpires next year. Thorsen, vice tacting every president of FirstMerit Bank board member in Union, beat out three other in the days leadapplicants for the seat. ing up to the Koehler resigned in Sepvote and asking tember after the County Board who their prefappointed him to the Metra erence was. Board. He first was elected in Jeff Thorsen Although 2000 and subsequently spent the Republican eight years as board chairman. Party can recommend a can-
didate, as it did with Thorsen, the power to advance a nominee for full board approval rests with the board chairman. State law requires the vacated elected position to be filled by a replacement of the same political party. After the vote, Thorsen said he is “elated” to get the nod and intends to run next year for a full four-year term. He
said his feelings are mixed because he will have to step down from the City Council seat he has held for 17 years. Thorsen unsuccessfully ran for county treasurer in 2014. “This is something I wanted to run for, and I’m going to run for. I’m happy the board saw fit to vote, 21-2, to give me the
See APPOINTMENT, page A6
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How they voted The McHenry County Board voted Tuesday, 21-2, to appoint Crystal Lake City Council member Jeff Thorsen to fill Ken Koehler’s remaining term on the board. Members Don Kopsell, R-Crystal Lake, and Mary McCann, R-Woodstock, voted no.
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