Yorkville sergeant fired, officer suspended after man in severe distress taunted
Recently released audio of suburban police taunting a man telling him to kill himself has resulted in one officer being fired and another suspended.
The incident happened in Yorkville a year ago, but the audio only came out recently.
The chief of police called what his officers did appalling, and he only became aware of it after it surfaced a year later in a courtroom.
In September of 2017, Yorkville police were called to a neighborhood for a domestic disturbance. When they arrived, they found a 44-year-old man living with his mom and acting belligerent. Police ended up tasing the man.
But first the officers egged him on.
“Hey, you still live with mom. Bring it,” police can be heard saying.
The man inside then starts strangling himself, but the officer taunts him more.
"Go ahead. Please. Finish yourself off,” an officer told the man.
That officer, Jeffrey Johnson, was suspended for 30 days without pay. His sergeant, Sarah Klingel, was fired for making things worse.
"Guess what? We're breaking in the f**king door…hey mom. You want us to come break down your door? We're coming in one way or the other. Open the door," Klingel said.
The mom and son were both arrested, but a judge found them not guilty when the audio was played in the courtroom finding the officers escalated the situation.
Yorkville Police Chief Rich Hart was made aware of the video when another department asked to use it as a training tool to show officers what not to do.
"When I first saw the dashcam, I was appalled. It is just completely unacceptable behavior from this department or any police officer,” Hart said.
Many expect the man and his mother will file a civil suit against the department, but as of now they haven't even filed a complaint.