Algonquin Township – Record destruction unsupported by video

McHenry Co. (ECWd) –

“I have the thumb drive copied of Mr. Lutzow and Provenzano in the Kabota for you.”, says Algonquin Township Clerk in an email September 6, 2018, to criminal investigators.

That statement is in regards to allegations that the current Algonquin Township Supervisor Chuck Lutzow and former employee Ryan Provenzano were captured on video transporting records to a dumpster in the back of a Kabota utility vehicle.

Once again, we legally obtained videos which appear to disprove a claim by the Algonquin Township Clerk, however it naturally raises questions as to what really happened.

This is one of those situations where the appearance stinks, but the evidence does not support that a crime was committed.  We believe the lack of evidence is clearly why there was no prosecution regarding Lukasik’s allegation of public records being destroyed.

Strange actions do lead to suspicion.  Just days before newly elected officials take office, people come in on a Saturday and appear to be transporting something from one location to another, allegedly a dumpster.  While we are unable to identify what, if any, public records are in the back of the Kabota, it does appear that something was at least moved from one place to another.

We understand Lutzow has claimed the only thing thrown away were non public records such as old magazines, phone books, etc.  The suspicion comes from the timing.  Why get rid of that stuff on a weekend just days before others take office?  While we understand some may wish to clean out their office before leaving, the optics, in this case, falls into the suspicious catagory in our opinion. However, the videos do not support a crime being committed.

As it relates to the allegations of record destruction, key elements to support a prosecution are needed.

• An original and only copy of a public record recovered from the township dumpster.
• Video evidence that shows a person’s face (proper identification) actually placing the records in the dumpster.
• Witness affidavit confirming they saw person “A” place public records in the dumpster

What we know to this point:

• No public records have been recovered from the dumpster.
• No videos provided to date show any person placing records in the dumpster.
• The claimed witness, Tim Sheperd, was unsure of what type of items were put in the dumpster. (see item #21 in the recent filing)

All of the alleged records dumping appear to be connected to video footage from May 13, 2017.  Of interest, is the videos were provided by Lukasik to the authorities in September of 2018, 16 months after the alleged crime.

Based on the video, we are unable to identify who is actually in the Kabota, so unless there is some other video out there, we can only wonder how Lukasik can claim it was two specific people in the vehicle.  While there are other videos to be published, the ones below contain the closest camera view of the vehicle as it passes by and as you will see, there is no way to identify who is in the vehicle.

Saturday, May 13, 2017 – 11:44 am – Two people walking in a parking lot, one appears to be Lutzow, the second person believed to be Provenzano

Saturday, May 13, 2017 – 11:48 – Kabota drives by, no way identifying who is actually in it from this video

Saturday, May 13, 2017 – 12:14- Kabota drives by, no way identifying who is actually in it from this video

Saturday, May 13, 2017 – 12:17  Kabota drives by, no way identifying who is actually in it from this video

Saturday, May 13, 2017 – 12:53  Kabota drives by, no way identifying who is actually in it from this video

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