EDWARDSVILLE - A
Collinsville police officer has been indicted on four counts of obstructing
justice after a defense attorney reported concerns about the way he conducted a
traffic stop and drug arrest.
Luke J. Tillman, 34, is
accused of lying when he said a vehicle that he stopped lacked a proper
registration.
Three of the counts are
variations on the basic accusation that the driver, a woman from Maryville, did
have a valid, temporary registration, and Tillman was aware of the fact but
failed to report accurately.
A fourth count claims he concealed
from evidence a video and audio recording of the traffic stop and arrest.
Tillman's lawyer, however,
said the charges are based on nothing more than "paperwork errors."
"It is important for
Luke that he defends these charges, not only for himself, but for his fellow
law enforcement officers who are asked to perform an important service under
difficult circumstances," attorney Dave Fahrenkamp said.
The attorney said his
client is not guilty and that the stop involved a known drug user and convicted
felon with crack paraphernalia and a passenger with an outstanding felony
warrant.
A spokeswoman for the
Madison County State's Attorney's Office said Tillman pulled over a driver on
Nov. 16, 2011, for failure to display any registration.
A search turned up a
possible crack pipe, and the driver was taken into custody. After lab tests,
the Collinsville Police Department obtained a felony charge of unlawful
possession of a controlled substance.
In March, Assistant Madison
County Public Defender Tyler Bateman reported to the State's Attorney's Office
that the driver had a valid temporary registration attached to her car at the
time of the stop.
Bateman also asked about a
video recording of the incident, but there was no mention of such a recording
in the written police report.
The State's Attorney's
Office said the in-car video must be logged in cases involving a felony charge.
An investigation allegedly
determined that the driver had a temporary registration, the State's Attorney's
Office said Friday, but this was not recorded in the officer's report, nor was
the video reported or logged.
A review of the backup
video showed there was a temporary license attached to the car, the spokeswoman
said. Charges against the driver were dropped.
The Collinsville Police Department
started an investigation on March 13, and Tillman was suspended. He remains on
the police force.
"Our system is not
based upon convicting persons at all costs," State's Attorney Tom Gibbons
said.
He said the attorney from
his office who reviewed the case was given false, misleading and inaccurate
information. He commended the Collinsville Police Department for investigating
the matter.
"The public must be
able to have confidence that the justice system is fair and that no one is
above the law," Gibbons said.
Prosecutors presented the
evidence to a grand jury on Thursday. Bail was set at $10,000. The penalty for
a conviction ranges from probation up to three years in prison.
Fahrenkamp said his client
served in the infantry in Afghanistan and has placed his life on the line as a
soldier and as a police officer.
He said police officers
must make split-second decisions every day.
"He does not have the
luxury of a bureaucratic review when lives are on the line," Fahrenkamp
said.
He said his client has taught
law enforcement classes and believes he has acted at all times in a
professional manner.
"He intends to defend
these charges and looks forward to a speedy trial in which he can clear his
name," Fahrenkamp said in a news release.