A Lisle resident who has been conducting a one-man protest against what he says is racism throughout the Naperville Police Department has been jailed for falsely accusing a police officer of trying to run him down with his car, Naperville police said.
Donald L. Pritchard, 49, of 500 block of Maple Avenue, is in DuPage County Jail on a combined bail of $115,000. He is charged with felony disorderly conduct/filing a false crime report and two misdemeanors, according to DuPage County Circuit Court records.
Pritchard in recent months has become something of a fixture in downtown Naperville and other prominent locations in the city. He carries a large, black and white, hand-lettered sign that charges Police Chief Robert W. Marshall and the department’s rank-and-file officers with being racists.
Police reports said Pritchard was standing with his sign outside police headquarters, 1350 Aurora Ave., at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 2. A short time later, he entered the station and filed a sworn affidavit with police Cmdr. Jason Arres.
Arres on Friday would only say the affidavit contained “an allegation of misconduct” on the part of a police officer.
“A thorough investigation was conducted, which included collection of (Pritchard’s) statement, a statement from a witness, an interview (with) the accused officer, and the video evidence from the officer’s squad car,” Arres wrote in an email.
“Review of the evidence showed that the complaint was unfounded, and appeared to be false in nature. The contents of the investigative file were brought for review to the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office, (and) after their review, they approved one count of disorderly conduct, for the filing of a false police report.”
Arres would not identify the officer named in Pritchard’s complaint, and referred further questions to DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin.
Berlin spokesman Paul Darrah on Friday confirmed Pritchard had been protesting outside the police station that afternoon when he “claimed a Naperville police car tried to run him over.”
“The allegations were thoroughly investigated by the Naperville Police Department, which included pulling video from the police car” in question, Darrah said. “Once the video was viewed, it completely disproved Mr. Pritchard’s claims,” he said.
Pritchard allegedly added to his troubles on Jan. 27, when he surrendered at the police station.
Arres said Pritchard that evening “resisted the arrest by pulling away from the officers, refusing to be handcuffed. Furthermore, he attempted to grab the officers’ hands while they tried to handcuff him, refused to walk (to a holding cell) and refused to comply with the booking process.”
That resulted in Pritchard being charged with misdemeanor resisting or obstructing a police officer, court records showed.
Pritchard also faces trial on a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct, stemming from a recent incident at the Goodwill Industries resale store at 539 Fort Hill Drive on Naperville’s far west side. Details of that incident could not be immediately learned.
Records indicated Pritchard is scheduled to appear Monday in court in connection with all three matters.
