I know what I know. I said from the start that Fox Lake County Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz’s death “in the line of duty” was suspicious.

As a retired twenty-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, everything about that alleged incident made no sense. First, Gliniewicz while “on his way to work” spots three suspicious characters and goes in pursuit of the trio; this after Gliniewicz tells dispatch the suspects “took my gun and pepper spray”; this weeks before he is about to retire.

We now know that Gliniewicz, a 52-year-old officer, shot and killed himself. He staged the suicide after he was discovered embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Fox Lake police youth program.

From the initial press conference held by his grieving widow who proclaimed that Gliniewicz was her “friend, rock, and he comes home to me every night“, I knew something was up. This sounded less like a grieving widow who is going to miss her husband and more like “woman-to-woman talk”. Who was she speaking to with her “he comes home to me every night”—his purported mistress, maybe?

It has been reported that Denise Sharpe Gretz, a 49-year-old former Lake County officer, accused Gliniewicz of coercing her into performing sex acts. Gliniewicz’s alleged misconduct dates back as far as 2000 when he was accused of sexually harassing a female subordinate.

Then-Chief of Police, Edward Gerretson, suspended Gliniewicz for 30 days and ordered him to attend sexual addiction counseling, according to the suit. In August 2015, Police Chief Michael Behan retired amid an internal investigation by Village Administrator Ann Marrin. That’s the same administrator whom Gliniewicz tried to “put a hit” on, fearing she was about to expose his crimes.

Clearly, Fox Lake County Police Administrators knew that Gliniewicz had a long history of inappropriate behavior and disciplinary action as an officer.

After news of the fatal shooting, Gliniewicz was reportedly engaged in “good police work” when he decided to stop “ON HIS WAY TO WORK” to investigate suspicious activity. Is it believable that George Filenko who heads the Major Crime Task Force as well as other administrators were unaware of the ongoing embezzlement investigation during the “manhunt” for the cop killers? Clearly, Fox Lake County Police Administrators knew that Gliniewicz had a long history of inappropriate behavior and disciplinary action as an officer. Read the full complaints here and here.

It is a stretch to believe that an officer who transmits to dispatch that his gun had just been taken from him (how did that even happen?) with the suspects running away, then manages to go in foot pursuit, catch up to the suspects, and engage in a struggle that leads to a shooting?

Makes no sense.

Wouldn’t the suspects have shot him immediately when they managed to overpower him and take his gun?

Would the suspects allow a pursing officer to catch them and not just shoot him from some distance away—since they had his gun?

Better yet, wouldn’t the suspects have shot Gliniewicz immediately after disarming him?

Why didn’t this 30-year veteran lieutenant ask for backup when he made that broadcast to dispatch?

Here’s the reason: Gliniewicz was about to be exposed as a thief, a fraud, and a disgraced officer. Lake County Major Crimes Task Force Commander George Filenko says Fox Lake was conducting an “internal audit” that revealed Gliniewicz had embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from a youth program that he managed.

Immediately following the report of the shooting death of Gliniewicz, Fox News and others began a “blame campaign” alleging that the Black Lives Matter movement had created an environment wherein police officers like Gliniewicz were being executed. Ron Hosko, President of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, wrote an article linking his “murder” to the Black Lives Matter Movement. Shouldn’t an apology to the Black Lives Matter movement be next. I’ll wait.

Should taxpayers foot the bill for a massive manhunt for the fake killers of Gliniewicz? Shouldn’t his wife, Melodie, shoulder some of that financial burden since it is now alleged that she and her son, D.J., may have been aware of Gliniewicz’s theft and are under investigation. As officials released text and Facebook messages detailing Gliniewicz criminal activity for the first time in its 50-year history, the 100 Club of Chicago requested the family return the $15,000 donation.

Are we to believe that the Fox Lake County police department administrators and the mayor were not aware that Gliniewicz was being investigated for stealing thousands of dollars from the police youth program for the past seven years. How and why did this image of a distinguished police officer continue to be perpetuated weeks after the staged death? It appears that the major crime task force administrators were being intellectually dishonest with regard to Gliniewicz’s character given their investigation and his past disciplinary history.

Note to potential jurors—sometimes police chiefs’ circle the wagons to protect police officers who are involved in inappropriate behavior.

Cheryl Dorsey