Drew Peterson's Son Could Get Ruling Soon
CHICAGO (WBBM) - After a series of delays, Drew Peterson's police officer son is expected to learn Saturday if he will keep his job on the Oak Brook force.
The western suburb's Police and Fire Commission will vote on Stephen Peterson's fate at a meeting that has been delayed three times.
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Hearings began in late November. The three commission members were supposed to vote Jan. 10 and Jan. 17, but were not prepared to do so. Blizzard conditions forced the next postponement, on Feb. 1.
Peterson has been suspended with pay since August.
Police Chief Thomas Sheahan has accused Peterson of obstructing the Illinois State Police investigation into the disappearance of his father's fourth wife Stacy, of briefly possessing his father's sawed-off AR-15 assault weapon illegally and of failing to keep the Oak Brook Police Department's internal investigation into the gun possession issue confidential.
Peterson testified that he has cooperated fully with state police.
"They called me and said, 'We hear you have his guns.' I said, 'Yes, I do. I'll be glad to bring them in when we meet on Friday,'" he recalled during testimony Dec. 10.
Illinois State Police Sgt. Gary Lawson testified that he had no problem with Peterson keeping his father's guns, including the AR-15, until that time.
Lawson testified that Stephen Peterson's failure to report that his father had given him $236,800 to assist with raising his father's four youngest children was significant for investigators. But Peterson testified in December that he still does not believe it had any relevance to the investigation into Stacy Peterson's disappearance and that the transfer has never been the subject of criminal charges.
All but $21,800 came from a home equity line of credit that was soon repaid. Peterson testified that his father told him Stacy had left with the deed to the house, but expected her to return.
Peterson testified that he believes he has been harassed for three years by Oak Brook Police Chief Thomas Sheahan, who testified that Peterson has shown a "consistent disregard" for departmental rules.
Peterson said that initially, when Stacy Peterson disappeared, Sheahan and top deputies appeared helpful. But he said that changed after a December 2007 appearance before a Will County grand jury in connection with the investigation into his father, at which the younger Peterson appeared in uniform, after driving a marked Oak Brook squad car to Joliet.
Despite that, Peterson said he wants to remain on the Oak Brook force.
"Simply put, I love my job," he testified in December. "I always say we have the greatest job in the world. I wouldn't trade it for anything and I love coming to work."
Peterson has been on the Oak Brook force for six years.
