Crime & Safety

Dude, Where's My Car? Sheriff's Cousin Loses County Cadillac in Walmart Parking Lot, Massive Search Finds Car Where He Left It

Deputy Chief Ken Kaupas thought someone stole his county-owned Cadillac while he was shopping. Turns out, he was having a "senior moment," and is being ribbed for it by fellow cops.

The sheriff’s cousin sent Joliet police on an intense hour-long search for an unmarked squad car he lost while taking a trip to Walmart Wednesday morning.

Ken Kaupas, the cousin of Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas, was taking a mid-day break and went to Walmart to buy some reading glasses, officials said.

When he left the Jefferson Street Walmart, he was unable to find the 2002 Cadillac he gets to drive as a deputy chief.

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Fearing his county car had been stolen, Ken Kaupas called the cops. About 10 Joliet officers showed up, said Police Chief Fred Hayes, who was grabbing some lunch at a nearby Panda Express at the time and joined the search effort as well.

The Joliet police went to work, Hayes said, and spent about an hour searching the area and poring over surveillance footage from the Walmart and a Menards next door.

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Hayes said the surveillance videos showed Ken Kaupas’ Cadillac parked in the lot with shoppers walking and driving by it, but no one stealing it.

“A Joliet sergeant decided he would go to that exact location,” Hayes said. “The vehicle was still there. A very embarrassed Deputy Chief Kaupas readily admitted he parked his vehicle, it had not been stolen, it had not been moved. He just lost his bearings. It’s like an episode of Seinfeld.”

“It was very embarrassing,” Ken Kaupas conceded. “I had a senior moment.”

Sheriff Kaupas said his cousin was taking some ribbing for losing his car and sending the city police on a wild goose chase looking for it.

“Everybody’s kidding him about it,” Paul Kaupas said. “He went in one door and came out the other and was to the left when he thought it was the right.

“People are making a lot more out of it than it was.”

Ken Kaupas joined the sheriff’s department in late 2010 as an almost-$110,000-a-year deputy chief and spokesman after working more than 25 years for the Illinois State Police. During his career with the state police, which saw him rise to the rank of captain, he reportedly played a “significant role” in the 2007 investigation of missing Bolingbrook mother Stacy Peterson.

In addition to his six-figure salary from the Will County Sheriff’s Department, Ken Kaupas collects a $107,788.80 a year pension from the state, according to information provided by Gerry Mitchell of the Illinois State Retirement Systems.

Ken Kaupas was on the clock for the sheriff’s department when he went shopping and lost his county car, Hayes pointed out.

“I mentioned that it was kind of unusual for him to be shopping during business hours,” Hayes said. “He did assure me that it was a job-related purchase, that he was getting some reading glasses.

“From the looks of this one, he probably needs more than reading glasses,” the chief added. “He should probably check his prescription.”


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