Elburn officer removed from police force

ELBURN – The Elburn Board of Police Commissioners held a special meeting Oct. 2 to discuss the probationary status of Officer Dave Cribaro.

Cribaro’s probationary status and employment with the village of Elburn were terminated in a unanimous vote by the board, with a motion introduced by Commissioner Judy Miller and seconded by Commissioner Judy Van Bogaert. The decision was made after the board left executive session.

All three commissioners – John Marshall, Miller and Van Bogaert – declined to comment on the vote that took place or why they reached that decision. Police Chief Nick Sikora who was present at the meeting declined to comment on the board’s decision as well.

Cribaro's full-employment probationary period was a topic of discussion at an earlier meeting Aug. 24 when former officer Steve Schulze's allegations regarding Cribaro's behavior were discussed. It was also noted that Cribaro's probationary period was extended by three months to Oct. 5, as revealed in a letter from Sikora to Cribaro.

Sikora said he extended Cribaro’s new-hire probationary period based on one issue raised by Schulze and because of a separate issue about the way he handled a police call.

“There was a situation that was brought up while Officer Cribaro was in his probationary period,” Sikora had said. “And I thought it was serious enough that I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to extend his probationary period from the standard 12 months to 15 months.”

Schulze alleged that Cribaro almost hit him with a squad car. Schulze also alleged that Cribaro spoke to him sharply on two occasions: when Schulze failed to show up to his shift without calling and another occasions where Schulze was serving as a backup officer for Cribaro during a vehicle search.