Feb. 17--Two park district employees in North Chicago have been cleared of charges that they stole toys from a Toys for Tots charity event.
But two park board members are still due to stand trial on felony theft charges stemming from the holiday toys giveaway held at a park district facility in December 2014.
Lake County prosecutors dropped the charges last week against Foss Park District employees Tommie Kindle and Mark Dixon Jr. after the judge in the case questioned why authorities did not turn over all surveillance video from the event, which was co-hosted by the Marine Corps.
The charges against the other two defendants -- park board Commissioners Jimmy Baldwin and Susan Dixon, the mother of Mark Dixon -- remain, and the two appeared in court Tuesday, where their trial was pushed back to March 28. It's yet to be determined if the two will be tried together.
Lawyers in the case said Kindle is expected to testify for the prosecution against Susan Dixon, while Mark Dixon is due to testify against Baldwin.
Authorities have alleged that the defendants removed dozens of toys without authorization from a park district facility. The toys, which authorities said were valued at more than $500 but less than $10,000, had been donated and were intended to go to needy families who had signed up to participate.
Kindle's mother, Jacqueline, was also charged in the case but the charge was dropped last summer. Jacqueline Kindle said she lost her job with the North Chicago Police Department as a result of the charge and is still seeking to win back her job.
Mark Dixon and Tommie Kindle were suspended from their jobs after they were charged. Their job status with the district was not immediately clear Tuesday. Neither man could be reached for comment.
A sixth defendant, Latonya Dickerson, a Marine involved in the giveaway, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft in Lake County's veterans court, officials said.
Defense attorneys have focused on the fact that authorities only made available to them some of the surveillance video during the time of the toy event.
Judge Daniel Shanes agreed to allow videos that were provided to the defense to be submitted as evidence. But the judge said he would permit aggressive cross-examination during the presentation of that evidence and said that jurors would be instructed to assume that video not available at the trial was favorable to the defendants.
Susan Dixon's attorney, Elizabeth Vonau, contended that the videos provided to the defense merely show people toting garbage bags around the facility but don't show what's in the bags. She also said several minutes are missing from the videos.
"In the end, it will be made clear that Susan (Dixon) was a volunteer and there to serve the community," Vonau said.
Susan Berger is a freelance reporter.
