A 12-year veteran of the Northbrook Police Department
charged with felony counts of residential burglary and official misconduct has
been put on unpaid administrative leave, officials said this morning.
The charges were announced Thursday after investigators
allegedly caught Patrol Officer Enrique Guzman on video stealing jewelry from a
home he had been sent to check on.
Northbrook police and the FBI recorded Guzman, 34, stealing
a fake diamond ring from a Northbrook residence where he had been told that a
door had been left open Wednesday afternoon, according to court documents.
A judge set bond at $30,000. He remained jailed this
morning.
Guzman, a Chicago resident, told investigators that he took
the jewelry to give to his girlfriend, according to a court document filed by
the Cook County state's attorney's office.
Conditions of bond included turning in firearms, a FOID card
and passport, officials said. They said Guzman will be put on electronic
monitoring if he posts bond.
The arrest comes after a five-month investigation of Guzman
by police and the FBI, according to officials. Northbrook officials would not
say Thursday whether Guzman has been suspended.
The investigation began because of several suspicious thefts
and burglaries that Guzman responded to and arrests that he had made, according
to the court document.
The FBI concealed three video cameras in the residence where
authorities dispatched Guzman, monitoring the front door, kitchen and bedroom,
the court document said. A jewelry box with a fake diamond ring inside had been
set up on a dresser in the bedroom, the document said.
Guzman was assigned to investigate the residence at 3:45
p.m. and arrived in a Northbrook police car within a few minutes, according to
the court document.
Wearing civilian clothing and carrying a firearm, Guzman
entered the house, walked into the bedroom and put the jewelry box into his
pocket, according to the court document.
A few hours after that, Guzman was called to Northbrook
Village Hall, where FBI agents interviewed him, according to the court document
— which noted that Guzman still had the stolen jewelry in his pocket during the
interview.
Guzman has been employed as a full-time patrol officer since
May 2001, according to the state's attorney's office.
Northbrook spokeswoman Cheryl Fayne-dePersio declined to
provide Guzman's salary. She pointed to a village website that says the average
salary of a patrol officer is about $122,000, which includes a base salary of
$83,767 with benefits. Northbrook has 46 patrol officers, according to the
village website.
Guzman's next court date is Feb. 22.