CHICAGO _ Four Chicago cops accused of lying in their reports about the police killing of Laquan McDonald were to be the beneficiaries of a mid-March fundraiser organized by their colleagues, a lawyer for one of the accused cops says.
But nobody involved in organizing the event was willing to talk about it Monday, or to address rumors that it had been canceled.
The event _ billed as a "benefit to help our fellow officers in the 8th District" _ was advertised in a flier posted in the Central District last week. According to the flier, the event was to be March 19 at 115 Bourbon Street in south suburban Merrionette Park, a popular venue for police fundraisers.
Tom Pleines, an attorney for Sgt. Stephen Franko, said he paid $30 for a ticket and that the event was to raise money for Franko and three other officers, Janet Mondragon, Daphne Sebastian and Ricardo Viramontes. Police brass are seeking to fire the four officers for lying in police reports to protect Jason Van Dyke, who has been charged with first-degree murder in McDonald's fatal shooting. A criminal investigation into the possible cover-up continues. The four officers are on unpaid leave.
"I'm sure it's not easy being unemployed," Pleines said of the officers, who are fighting attempts to fire them. Pleines added that he received an email last week inviting him to the event from the president of the Chicago Police Sergeants' Association.
But 115 Bourbon Street does not have the event listed on its calendar of fundraisers, and managers there did not return calls seeking comment. The venue's owner, Vince Dinovo, hung up on a reporter. And CPSA President James Ade also did not return calls seeking comment Monday.
A Central District officer who was listed on the flier as selling tickets declined to comment when asked if the event had been canceled.
It isn't the first controversy over fundraising for officers involved in the case. GoFundMe shut down a fundraiser for Van Dyke in November 2015 and returned more than $10,000 to donors, saying it was a violation of its terms of service to collect for someone accused of a crime.
(Chicago Tribune's Angela Caputo contributed.)
