Court Filing Sounds Of Unlawful Restraint, Intimidation, Unlawful Exercise Of Police Authority –

Dolton, Ill. (ECWd) –

The complaint for an injunction filed in court yesterday, which resulted in the Emergency Temporary Restraining Order removing (voiding the appointments of) Lakeside Legal Attorney Angela Lockett as Village Attorney – Ronnie Burge Sr. as Village Police Chief – and Michael A. Smith as Village Administrator contains allegations of alleged criminal activities including unlawful restraint of the Administrative Services director by Tiffany Henyard’s boyfriend and former Dolton Deputy Police Chief, and under the direction of Henyard.

From the Complaint – keep in mind that appointments and terminations by the mayor must be with the advice and consent of the board, which she did not attempt to obtain:

• Michael A. Smith, Angela Lockett and Ronnie Burge Sr. are each individuals that were unlawfully appointed by Mayor Henyard to positions within the Village
• Mayor Henyard ordered the IT director to disable Administrator Freeman’s email account so he could not conduct Village business
• Mayor Henyard ordered Janice Johnson, the director of Administrative Services, to draft a termination letter to Keith Freeman. On one such occasion, Mayor Henyard ordered her boyfriend and the former Deputy Police Chief to stand outside Ms. Johnson’s office so she could not leave until she drafted said letter. Ms. Johnson refused the Mayor’s efforts to draft a termination letter to Administrator Freeman
• Mayor Henyard’s personal attorney, with no affiliation to the Village of Dolton, sent a letter to Ms. Johnson advising her that “Keith Freeman’s employment with the Village of Dolton has been terminated” and requesting that she take all actions necessary to effectuate Freeman’s termination
• Burge has held himself out as the Police Chief, taken a police department vehicle as his own, and given directives to the Dolton Police Officers

Read the entire complaint and emergency motion for TRO below, which will explain how these appointments violated village code and were never authorized, among other things: