Former Joliet police officer Nagra arrested

Former Joliet police officer Brian Nagra, who resigned only days before he was to face charges of collecting illegitimate overtime pay, was arrested Thursday.

Nagra 42, was booked into the Kendall County Jail at 3:17 p.m., according to the sheriff office’s online records. Charges against Nagra were not listed on the website when Nagra’s name was posted. His name later was removed from the site.

Sources said Nagra’s arrest was related to the disciplinary case in Joliet where he was accused of receiving illegitimate overtime from 2014 into 2018.

The amount of money involved in the allegations has not been made public.

The documents listing charges against Nagra were sealed, said Deputy Nancy Velez, spokeswoman for the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office.

Velez said the arrest was made by the Cooperative Police Assistance Team. CPAT is a multijurisdictional agency comprised of state, county and municipal police officers who work on investigative cases.

“He was brought in by the Oswego Police Department, but the arresting agency was CPAT,” Velez said.

Nagra was recommended for discharge Jan. 11 and removed from duty.

City attorneys decided to allow him to remain on the payroll while not working as he awaited a hearing before the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, which has the authority to fire police officers.

That hearing was not scheduled until July, when it was set for July 8.

While awaiting a hearing, Nagra collected roughly $50,000 in additional pay and reached his 20th anniversary as a Joliet police officer in June, qualifying him to collect additional pension benefits in the future.

He gave notice of his resignation July 5. The notice came almost three weeks after Nagra reached his 20th anniversary date, which would allow him to begin collecting his pension at age 50 instead of 60. The benefit would be worth about $500,000 to Nagra if he collects the pension.

He could lose all pension benefits if convicted of a felony committed in the course of his duties as a police officer.

Nagra's resignation ended the termination proceeding against him before it began.

A complaint against Nagra was never filed with the police board so there was no public record of the case against him.

Joliet released no information about the case until Thursday, when the police department responded to a Freedom of Information Act request from The Herald-News seeking the paperwork filed for Nagra’s termination.

The termination order from Police Chief Al Roechner was dated Jan. 11.

Roechner notified Nagra that he was “identified as having submitted overtime requests in 2014 through 2018 you did not work and incur which resulted in your receiving overtime pay or compensatory time.”

Roechner additionally stated that “the offense was intentional.”

The order does not list the amount of illegitimate overtime pay Nagra is accused of receiving.

"The evidence has shown that you can no longer be trusted to perform the duties as a police officer," Roechner said.

Nagra is the second Joliet police officer this year to resign or retire before facing charges in Kendall County.

Former Lt. Dennis McWherter, who retired in November, was charged in March with official misconduct, theft and drug-related offenses for allegedly taking opioids from a drug drop box at the police department’s West Substation, which is located in Kendall County.

The Kendall County charges allege that the incident occurred in October.