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Officer files lawsuit over allegations he was drunk
(The Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jul. 22--BLOOMINGTON -- A Bloomington police lieutenant has filed a civil lawsuit against another officer and a labor representative with the police union, charging them with making false allegations that he arrived drunk to a standoff with an armed subject last August.
Lt. Tim Stanesa filed the lawsuit Friday in McLean County Circuit Court. It seeks more than $50,000 each from Sgt. Gayle Cyrulik, labor representative Eric Poertner and the Policemen's Benevolent & Protection Association.
Stanesa was cleared in March of allegations that he was intoxicated when he arrived at an armed standoff Aug. 25 on the 400 block of North Lee Street. In a letter to Bloomington Chief Roger Aiken, the union accused Stanesa of consuming alcohol at a party in LeRoy before he responded to the emergency situation.
Cyrulik remains on unpaid leave from the department pending the outcome of an arbitration hearing on charges that he made untrue statements about Stanesa.
Cyrulik's attorney, Shane Voyles, said Monday that several other officers saw Stanesa in an intoxicated state and sleeping at the standoff. A decision is expected sometime in the fall from the arbitrator.
Voyles said Cyrulik stands by his earlier statements about Stanesa.
The police union did not return calls for comment on the lawsuit.
A case management conference is scheduled for Nov. 7 on the lawsuit.
In his lawsuit, Stanesa contends union officials and Cyrulik knew the charges were false but continued to pass the information to other officers and the news media.
The lieutenant admits to drinking about 27 ounces of 3.2 percent beer at the party before he received the first of several phone calls about the Lee Street incident. He said his blood-alcohol level never approached 0.04 BAC, the level defined under the city's collective bargaining unit as unacceptable for sergeants and lieutenants on duty. By law, a person is considered legally drunk with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08.
Stanesa arrived at Lee Street at 11:37 p.m. Aug. 25 dressed in emergency response gear, said the lawsuit. Stanesa denied sleeping but acknowledged he closed his eyes for about five minutes while waiting for a search warrant.
Stanesa also denied telling other officers that he did not serve as incident commander during the standoff because he had been drinking.
Stanesa argued the alleged defamation has caused him pain, humiliation and harmed his career, saying he was passed over for assistant chief in 2008.
To see more of The Pantagraph, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pantagraph.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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