A La Grange man is facing a felony charge after repeatedly threatening the police chief and other officers in west suburban Riverside.
Lawrence M. O’Keefe, 68, was charged with felony threatening a public official, according to Riverside police.
Over the past month, O’Keefe repeatedly called Riverside’s emergency call center claiming he was going to “murder” the village’s police chief, another current officer and a retired sergeant, police said.
O’Keefe claimed to be the state’s attorney and threatened to take “all the Riverside police officers to the grand jury to take away their guns and bullets,” police said. In addition, O’Keefe claimed Riverside police had arrested him and caused him to lose his job and pension.
O’Keefe was ultimately identified when his phone number was traced, police said. He previously lived in Riverside, and was arrested several times in the village in 2005 and 2006 for domestic battery and drug and driving offenses. However, one of the officers he threatened to kill did not work for the police department during that time.
On Wednesday, O’Keefe was arrested at his La Grange home and later charged, police said. He was also wanted on an active warrant in Oakbrook for threatening an attorney over the phone.
O’Keefe’s bail was set at $10,000 during a hearing Thursday, according to Cook County court records. He was released after posting bond and his next court date was scheduled for Monday.
