FOX LAKE, Ill. — An Illinois police officer who staged his suicide to make it look like he was murdered had a troubled job history, ranging from numerous suspensions to sexual harassment allegations to complaints that he intimidated an emergency dispatcher with guns, according to his personnel records.

Despite a reputation as a respected youth mentor, Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz also had problems off the job. In one incident, an officer took Gliniewicz home after he was found passed out in his truck, and Gliniewicz reported his truck stolen the next day, according to documents in the file.

The records were released late Thursday by the Village of Fox Lake in response to a Freedom of Information request, after a day in which officials said Gliniewicz had sought out a hit man to kill a village administrator he feared would expose him as a thief, and may have planned to plant cocaine on the administrator to discredit her as a criminal.

The image of Gliniewicz that’s emerged in recent days stands in stark contrast to the hero’s funeral and outpouring of community support after his death in September.

Dubbed “G.I. Joe,” Gliniewicz was a well-known figure in the bedroom community of 10,000 people 50 miles north of Chicago.

His death, moments after he radioed that he was chasing three suspicious men, prompted an intense manhunt involving hundreds of officers, and raised fears of cop-killers on the loose. Thousands attended his funeral, and he was held up as the latest example of dangers faced by police.

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The huge outpouring of grief has now been replaced by a sense of betrayal after investigators revealed on Wednesday that he had elaborately planned his own killing after stealing and laundering money from a Police Explorers program he oversaw for seven years.

In his last weeks, he feared he was about to be exposed by a new village administrator.

Recovered text messages and other records show Gliniewicz spent the money on mortgage payments, travel expenses, gym memberships, adult websites, withdrawing cash and making loans, said Lake County Major Crimes Task Force Commander George Filenko, who led the investigation.

A detective involved in the investigation told the AP on Thursday that Gliniewicz apparently also sought a hit man to kill the village administrator, Anne Marrin. Detective Chris Covelli said Gliniewicz sent a text in April asking a woman to set up a meeting with a “high ranking gang member to put a hit on” Marrin.

Gliniewicz’s police personnel file contained numerous commendations for good work early in his career with the department, which began in 1985.

But in just a few years, he was racking up reprimands and suspensions for such things as lying about being sick and giving motorists the wrong court dates on their traffic citations.


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