February 4, 2005
BY FRANK MAIN,
FRAN SPIELMAN AND
ANNIE SWEENEY Staff Reporters
The Chicago Police Department is investigating if any
officers violated department rules in dealings with Hired Truck
defendant John "Quarters" Boyle or his pal Michael Acosta, the
retired top cop at O'Hare Airport charged this week with lying
to the feds.
In an interview, Police Supt. Phil Cline also said Internal
Affairs investigators are scrutinizing the supervisors of four
cops charged last week with robbing drug dealers on the South
Side.
"We're looking at sign-out sheets for cars and looking at
supervisors' logs," said Cline, who is dealing with his first pair of
major scandals in his nearly 16 months as police superintendent.
Investigators want to learn if sergeants were covering for rogue
officers who were not on their beats. At least six more officers are
suspected of wrongdoing in the probe, which is focused on the Englewood
District and began with a tip from honest cops.
New trial sought in Eric Lee case
The scandal has led defense attorney Marijane Placek to seek
a new trial for her client, Aloysius Oliver, who is serving a
life sentence for killing Officer Eric Lee. Broderick Jones and
Corey Flagg -- two of the officers arrested last week -- had
called Lee for backup before he was shot to death in an
Englewood alley in 2001. Placek said she wants to examine Lee's
personnel record.
"We want to put all the pieces together and find out what
happened that night," said Placek, who also wants a special
prosecutor for a retrial. "We believe Officer Lee was as much a
victim as Aloysius Oliver was."
Cline said he stands behind a police investigation clearing
Jones and Flagg in Lee's death.
Meanwhile, details of the charges against Acosta evoked mixed
reactions from City Hall. Ald. Bernard Stone (50th) honed in on
Boyle's "chilling" question to Acosta during a secretly recorded
conversation about whether a district commander could help
obtain a liquor license.
"Is he ours?" Boyle allegedly asked. Acosta responded, "No."
Boyle was convicted in 1992 of stealing $4 million in change
from the tollway.
Stone said he would worry about every commander if he were
Cline. "I'd want to know who's fraternizing with whom," he said.
Backed by Carothers
But Ald. Isaac "Ike" Carothers (29th), chairman of the Police
Committee, defended Acosta. "My experience with him is he's
always been a good commander," Carothers said, adding that he
sees no need for Cline to do anything based on Boyle's remark.
Last week, Carothers was on the defensive about his own
relationship with Boyle. Prosecutors disclosed that Boyle told a
concrete contractor whose wife was in the Hired Truck program to
donate $1,000 to Carothers' 29th Ward Regular Democratic
Organization.
Asked what he thought of Boyle's "Is he ours?" comment, Cline
said, "I don't know what he meant by that. Was he saying, 'Is he
one of our friends?' "
The unnamed bar mentioned in the taped conversation will be part of
the police investigation, Cline said. "Anything in the complaint that
came out yesterday, our Internal Affairs is looking at," he said.
Mayor Daley was out of town last week when the feds announced the
arrest of the four officers. The mayor also was out of town Wednesday
when Acosta was arrested.
"I spoke to the mayor last week and I spoke to him this morning,"
Cline said. "The mayor is disappointed any time a public servant
violates his trust."