Frankfort police officer Donald Walsh, 29, was arrested in Mokena and charged with domestic battery July 25, after allegedly choking and headbutting a woman, Sun-Times Media reports.
Mokena police said they responded to a 9-1-1 call at 3:48 a.m. on the 11500 block of Stratford Road, from a 9-year-old girl who heard her mother screaming. When officers arrived on the scene, the victim, a 31-year-old woman with whom Walsh had an on-and-off dating relationship, approached them from a neighbor's home and told them that Walsh was inside the woman's home with a gun to his head and that he had threatened to kill himself, Mokena police said.
Officers made contact with him at the front door, detained him, and determined that a domestic battery had taken place, police said. Walsh was taken into custody, processed, and transported to Will County Jail, police said. Walsh posted bail and was released later on Wednesday, according to the Sun-Times Media report.
Frankfort Police Chief John Burica declined to comment on the incident, calling it a personnel issue.
"It's an open investigation, so he's on administrative leave until the investigation's closed," Burica said.
According to police reports, Walsh had texted the woman earlier in the night and told her he would be over around midnight, but didn't show up until about an hour before police were called. Police said the couple argued about text messages, and that Walsh demanded to see the woman's phone. When he couldn't unlock the phone to view it, Walsh proceeded to choke the woman, strike her with the bottom of his right fist, and head-butt her, police said. According to police reports, the woman sustained bruising and other injuries.
According to Mokena police, Walsh gave a conflicting statement about the incident, claiming that the woman had attacked him and that he had only tried to restrain her. However, the victim's daughter stated that she went into the bedroom and saw him on top of her mother, choking and punching her, police said.
Mokena police said they had no record of previous incidents of domestic violence in relation to Walsh.
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FTA: "he's on administrative leave until the investigation's closed" means he gets paid even though he's a big douchebag, right? ...then the process of a female being deprived of air by steroid-fueled maniac twice her size. Was that the whole process, or does the woman-beater have rights that need protecting ? My guess is he is even more pissed at her now because of the legal and carrer problems he thinks she caused him. The article neglected to adress weather the officer's guns were removed from his house after this domestic situation. He sure was processed and released promptly- not much time to cool-off. More to come,,,
Do you really think that there is anyone who is undeserving of prayer? I suggest that you discuss this with your religious leader. You may gain a deeper understanding of the purpose of prayer. In your anger at his act, you may think that praying for him is in some way excusing or mitigating any and all crimes and sins that he has committed, but such is not the case. If we make prayer part of our life, we may not pray for everyone all the time, but neither should we purposely exclude anyone from our Christian love. (That's assuming you're a Christian. I realize there are many, many different religions. I just assumed 'Christian' to likely be the right call, because of the inclusion of prayer.)
Your comment has been deleted, as it was against Patch Terms of Use. Personal attacks are prohibited. Please keep this in mind in future postings. If you have any questions, I encourage you to contact me at lauren.traut@patch.com. Thank you, Lauren Traut Associate Regional Editor
Your comment was deleted, as it violated Patch's Terms of Use. Profanity and offensive language are prohibited. If you have any questions, I encourage you to contact me lauren.traut@patch.com. Thanks, Lauren Traut Associate Regional Editor
I take it that you know that they have been in an unhealthy relationship for some time now and that the woman is not totally innocent of violent behavior. But a man is almost always physically stronger and therefore bears more responsibility in stopping the violence. He could have left and it's unlikely that she would have been able to stop him. That may very likely not have been true if it was the other way around. 'Leaving' is what he should have done to call a halt to things, rather than let them escalate. "but she didn't just sit there and take it. She fought back." Do you think she should have done more to stop the fight by sitting there and not trying to defend herself? If you are correct about her fighting back, she's still the one who came out the loser, sustaining bruises and other injuries. Again, a fight between a man and a woman is rarely equally balanced. "Walsh is a good man." Is that how you'd introduce him to people? "I'd like you to meet Walsh. He's a good man, a policeman who choked and beat a woman in front of her 9 year old daughter and who then put a gun to his head and threatened to kill himself." He may not be a bad man, but he is most definitely a mentally ill man in need of treatment and anger management help and no matter how much you like him, now would not be a wise time for you to leave your children in his care.
Even if 17 million of them here in the US alone are watching INFOWARS, that number is hardly impressive. I have no way of knowing how accurate or inaccurate the stats I put up are, but I reckon they have as good a chance as yours of being valid. I just went to Infowars.com and the first featured story is 'Dave Mustaine: Obama Staged ‘Batman’ Massacre'. I don't think Infowar viewers have any cause to feel smug about getting news that is more 'real' than what's presented to the rest of us as truth by the mainstream media.
I deleted your comment because it contained profanity. However, I e-mailed your remarks to you, so you could repost those comments without the profanity. Joe Vince Local Editor, Frankfort/Mokena
Are there cases where you or others have suspected this but haven't been able to find evidence? Could you e-mail me (joev@patch.com) some information on any of those? I'd like follow up. Joe Vince Local Editor, Frankfort/Mokena
Walsh is on administrative leave, so he is still being paid while this is under investigation. E-mail me your concern with this other officer (joev@patch.com). Have you notified the police about an issue? Joe Vince Local Editor, Frankfort/Mokena
I'm currently looking into the points you brought up and will let you know when I have more information. Thanks! Anna
I met with Frankfort Deputy Chief of Police Kevin Keegan today and can relay the following information about Donald Walsh's termination hearing: A hearing was held at 8 a.m. on Wednesday. However, Walsh has not yet been terminated. The matter has been referred to a Will County Court judge, because a court order is required for a specific testimony to be heard. Another hearing will be scheduled as soon as the court order is obtained. If the court order cannot be obtained, the hearing will still continue. A notice about the hearing was posted on the police department window. Another notice was also given to village administration, although Deputy Chief Keegan did not know when and where the second notice was posted. I have contacted the lawyer representing the Frankfort Board of Police and Fire Commissioners, but have not yet received a response. I have also contacted the village administration about when and where they posted the second notice, but have not received a response. I also contacted the Acting Public Access Counselor with the Attorney General's office, but have not received a response. As I learn more, I'll continue to relay information to this comment thread. Thanks! Anna
I know it's been awhile since I last posted on this thread, but I did not forget about your questions. I now have more information about the termination hearing and how the public was notified. I will continue to monitor that status of the second hearing, and when the board makes a decision regarding the termination of Donald Walsh, I will report it. I also spoke with village administrator Jerry Ducay, who told me the hearing agenda was posted on the door of the village administration building, but was not posted on the village website. I have examined the public notice section of the Open Meetings Act statute available on the website of the Illinois attorney general. It states the following: "A public body that has a website that the full-time staff of the public body maintains shall post notice on its website of all meetings of the governing body of the public body." However, after reading this, I was informed by Mr. Ducay that the Frankfort Board of Police and Fire Commissioners, who conducted the hearing, do not take any direction from the village board and are charged with tasks separate from the public body of the village, although they are appointed by the mayor with the advice and consent of the village board. Therefore, the Open Meetings Act as it applies to the public body of the village does not apply to the Frankfort Board of Police and Fire Commissioners. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Anna