Batavia Police Officer Suspended for March 30 Crash

Batavia's police chief has suspended an officer involved in a , according to media reports.

Police Chief Gary Schira suspended Officer Scott Mercil for 1.5 days without pay, the Kane County Chronicle reports.

A crash report indicated Mercil was behind the wheel of the at-fault vehicle in a March 30 crash in which a pickup truck hit the rear passenger-side door of his squad car. Mercil was preparing to pull another vehicle over and followed behind it as it turned left from southbound Randall Road onto eastbound McKee Street.

Mercil was struck by the northbound pickup truck after he drove into the intersection, according to the report.

Mercil did not appeal his suspension to the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners. He had until today, Wed., May 2 to decide whether to appeal Schira’s decision, the Daily Herald reports.

The Chronicle's story said Mercil will not be issued any citations as a result of the crash.

Schira described the accident as avoidable and preventable in the media reports.

Mercil and three people from the pickup were taken to Delnor Hospital in Geneva, but their injuries were not serious, said Dan Eul, Batavia deputy police chief.

Schira has not made a decision yet on whether another officer will be disciplined in an unrelated April 12 crash. A crash report indicated that a Batavia police officer’s police SUV was the at-fault vehicle after it entered an intersection as another squad car passed through the same intersection. The vehicles made contact twice before coming to a stop. The squad car hit a tree and the SUV hit a parking sign.

The officers had minor bumps and bruises following the crash, Eul said.

The police vehicles collided at Lincoln and Houston streets as officers responded to an emergency call of a fight in progress.

All three police vehicles in the two crashes are out of service.

Patch could not reach police administration late Wednesday afternoon for further comment.