cbs2chicago.com - Cop Who Handcuffed Mother Could Now Be In Trouble
CHICAGO (CBS) ― The part-time officer involved in a controversial arrest in the south suburbs may now be in trouble himself. He put a mother in handcuffs for leaving a sleeping child in the car but, as CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports, there's word that the officer in question should not have been on the street in the first place.
Ellen "Treffly" Coyne was arrested Dec. 8 for leaving 2-year-old Phoebe asleep in her car seat while she and her other daughters went to drop $8 in change into a Salvation Army kettle less than 40 feet away. It was a good deed that ended with Coyne's arrest.
"It was surreal," Coyne said. "I couldn't believe it was happening to me."
The criminal charges were later dropped, but now we're learning that the arresting officer could be in trouble.
Forrest Wondolowski is a Chicago machinist who's been disabled since 2004. But Chicago officials say when he filled out his dual employment form he told them he'd be on desk duty while working as a Crestwood police officer. They wouldn't go on camera Tuesday but spokesperson Eileen Joyce told CBS 2: "We've never had an employee put false information on a dual employment form. We're investigating whether what he wrote on his form was not true."
"He didn't seem disabled to me, so to learn that he was collecting from the City of Chicago for disability, that was surprising," Coyne said.
She calls the turn of events ironic.
Wondolowski and the Crestwood Police Department were not available for comment.
The Mayor of Crestwood says Officer Wondolowski has been a part-time officer in good standing for 10 years.
He says Wondolowski did take time off when he was injured.
City of Chicago officials say Wondolowski can't lift anything above 50 pounds while on the job due to his 2004 shoulder injury.
