Roechner says Joliet used FBI to plumb data

Interim Police Chief Al Roechner confirmed that the FBI was at the police station last month concerning a recent lawsuit over nude photos on an officer’s cellphone but said the agency was there at the city’s request.

Roechner said the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, an agency affiliated with the FBI and numerous local police departments including Joliet, was preserving information related to the lawsuit brought by Officer Cassandra Socha.

“We’re partnering with them,” he said. “They’re not investigating anything. The only thing that they’re doing is what we requested of them.”

Roechner said the agency was brought in because of its resources and expertise in obtaining data and to have an outside agency involved.

“We didn’t want any of our officers doing this because of transparency,” he said.

Socha sued the city, alleging that Detective Edward Grizzle, during an investigation, “trawled” her cellphone while looking for evidence related to a recent criminal case involving her fiancé, Officer Nicholas Crowley.

The lawsuit contends that sexual photos of her and Crowley were discovered in the search and shared with other police officers.

“Although Grizzle and city were unable to find evidence of any criminal offense on plaintiff’s iPhone, they succeeded in finding private images with which to embarrass and humiliate plaintiff,” according to the lawsuit.

“Specifically, they found numerous private, still and/or video-graphic images that clearly depict plaintiff while nude and/or while engaged in sex acts with Crowley, who is also clearly identifiable in these images.”

The lawsuit contends the city, Grizzle and other unnamed employees violated Socha’s constitutional right against unlawful search and seizure and her right to privacy.

Grizzle obtained a search warrant for Socha’s cellphone to search for evidence of harassment or intimidation by electronic communication based on a statement made by a witness at Crowley’s criminal trial, according to the lawsuit.

Instead, Grizzle and the city “seized on the text message as a means by which to settle a score with [Socha], for whom they blamed Crowley’s acquittal,” according to the lawsuit.

Crowley was found not guilty of reckless discharge of a firearm in May.

The FBI could not be reached concerning their visit to the Joliet police station on Aug. 24.