Dorian Supporters Jam Into Courtroom
JOLIET, Ill. (WBBM) - Even before Brian Dorian was freed on murder charges, he had plenty of support.
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The Lynwood police officer is set to make another court appearance in Will County Wednesday, to have all charges against him in a pair of shootings on the Illinois-Indiana border last week formally dropped.
On Tuesday, more than 100 people tried to jam into a Joliet courtroom half that size to hear the Lynwood police officer's plea, only hours before the decision was made to free him. Virtually all believed him to be innocent.
Some wore freshly-printed "Free Brian" T-shirts, while others wore gear from the Boston Red Sox, Dorian's favorite team.
Family members, friends and relatives had little to say after court, except that Dorian was not the man police wanted. They huddled in the law offices of defense attorneys Dave Carlson and Bob Odekirk as the actions leading to Dorian's freedom unfolded.
Now that the charges have been dropped, a lot of people are going to be wondering what Dorian co-worker Jill Aggan wondered aloud following the hearing.
"The most frustrating thing is that everything revolved around him and nothing around the fact that there's someone still running around out there," Aggan said. "Northwest Indiana and Illinois (are) not safe."
In fact, recently retired Lynwood Sergeant Tim Smith said, the entire force has backed Dorian.
"I know Brian's character. I know how he is. I know where he was, what he did during the time of the shooting, and he wasn't there," Smith said.
Smith said Dorian told him over the years that one of the reasons he joined the force was to get it right, to put the criminals behind bars and to protect everyone else.
