The former acting police chief of south suburban Dolton claims he was fired in retaliation for one of his officers ticketing the mayor’s campaign truck the day he was elected in 2013.
On April 8, 2013, Ronald Burge Sr. sent an officer to the intersection of Sibley Boulevard and Greenwood Road, where a truck with signs supporting mayoral candidate Riley Rogers was illegally parked, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court.
The officer, who is also listed as a plaintiff in the suit, told campaign workers to move the truck and they complied, the suit claims.
The next day — the day of the election — the truck was parked in the same spot with Riley workers handing out campaign materials, and Burge told an officer to issue a parking ticket, the suit says.
As the officer was writing the citation, Riley showed up, asked him to stop and said “he would take care of the ticket when he won the election that night,” the suit says. The officer wrote it up anyway.
Riley did win the election, and on May 9 he fired the chief from the department. Burge’s son, a former part-time officer who goes by the same name and is a plaintiff in the suit, later was fired as well, Burge claims.
The suit alleges that John Franklin, the current Dolton police chief and a defendant in the suit, said at the time “that they got his daddy and now they got him.”
Two other officers listed as plaintiffs claim they were demoted for carrying out Burge’s orders.
Dolton village officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday evening.
The eight-count wrongful termination suit seeks an unspecified amount in damages.
