Police1 Staff Report
(VERNON HILLS, Ill ) -- A veteran Bellwood policeman who allegedly used counterfeit checks to purchase thousands of dollars in computer equipment has been arrested and is being held on $250,000 bond, authorities say.
Luis Disotaur, of Chicago, is facing four counts of official misconduct, two counts of conspiracy to commit forgery and two counts of theft of over $300, the News Sun newspaper reported.
The newspaper reported that Disotaur was on duty at the time of the alleged crime. Prosecutors told the newspaper that Disotaur drove an unmarked police vehicle to the store to pass a bogus check and load up on computer equipment, using his police scanner to make sure fellow officers were not near the store.
Authorities allege that Disotaur and two other men wrote the phony checks to obtain the computer equipment from Computer Discount Warehouse here.
Disotaur is a 14-year veteran of the force and has been decorated for bravery, it was reported. He was arrested Wednesday.
Previously arrested in the forgery case was Vincent Maverick, who faces bad check and theft by deception charges, the newspaper reported. The other suspect in the scam died during the investigation.
Published reports stated that the bogus checks were passed at the store in March 1999, and again on March 13, 2000. The phony checks were used to purchased nearly $30,000 worth of merchandise, prosecutors told the newspaper.
Patricia Fix, chief of the computer crimes division in the Lake County State’s Attorney’s office, told the newspaper that the investigation into the check scheme is continuing and involves “other jurisdictions.”