FORMER Carbondale police chief Jody O’Guinn
CARBONDALE, Ill.—Carbondale’s police chief was fired this morning, city officials reported at 9 a.m.
City officials averred the real reason for the termination of Jody O’Guinn, who has been with the department in his capacity as chief since June 2009…nearly all of them marked with some form of controversy, but all of that controversy O’Guinn’s own doing, and most of it only lightly (or incorrectly) covered by mainstream media.
City Manager Kevin Baity, during a press conference this morning, stated that his decision to dismiss O’Guinn was a “confidential matter and has nothing to do with the unsolved cases or recent litigation filed against the city and the chief. Any assumptions/allegations to this effect are completely unfounded,” thus perpetuating the nonsense and cover-up surrounding O’Guinn for the past several years, which includes the 2011 death of a resident after O’Guinn’s pistol was taken from his vehicle and used in the homicide; the death of Molly Young in 2012 that remains still unaddressed in criminal court but is now in civil litigation; and the death of Pravin Varughese, which only a couple of weeks ago also landed in civil litigation in Jackson County circuit court.
The inability displayed by city leadership remains in question when it comes to effective law enforcement, and residents are concerned about the city’s pick for interim chief, Jeff Grubbs; some have stated that Grubbs, as deputy chief under O’Guinn, will be nothing but “more of the same.”
There’s been no word about locating a permanent replacement for O’Guinn.
Our congratulations go out to the two other media outlets who, along with Disclosure, have reported the FACTS about O’Guinn’s lack of interest, lies and deferral on the above-mentioned cases, calling a spade a spade as we always have done: The Carbondale Times and Monica Zukas’ Reality Check on WGGH radio in Marion have never one time spewed the party line without checking into the facts and giving them, facts which dispute the “official” stories and have assisted in landing the two wrongful death lawsuits in Jackson County court. Hats off to you!!