Aurora mayor calls for sheriff to take back ‘lies’ about city’s role in fatal shooting

Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin is calling on Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain to retract remarks where he blamed the Aurora Police Department for a 2023 shooting that left a suspect and a sheriff’s police dog dead.

During a Tuesday news conference, Irvin said Hain’s statements “are wrong and full of lies.” However, he said, “We know that (retraction) won’t happen because it doesn’t fit (Hain’s) narrative.”

Irvin was reacting to comments Hain made last week during the unveiling of a monument to the police dog Hudson.

Four-year-old Hudson died on May 24, 2023, while apprehending an armed carjacking suspect who had led police on a high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle before engaging in a shootout with officers. Hudson and the suspect — 38-year-old James Moriarty of Aurora — were killed during the exchange of gunfire.

During last week’s ceremony, Hain said he tried for six years to have his office and the Aurora Police Department work together.

“That has fallen on deaf ears, and they refuse to work jointly with us,” Hain said. “And this is the outcome when you refuse to communicate.”

Hain said what happened to Hudson is an example “of what happens when you don’t work together on a cohesive basis.”

On Tuesday, Aurora Police Chief Keith Cross said “the sheriff seems to be a bit disconnected” if Hain thinks Aurora police and sheriff’s deputies aren’t working together.

“The insinuation that the APD or the city of Aurora was to blame is both false and deeply disrespectful,” Cross said.

Deputy Chief Matt Thomas said Aurora police and the sheriff often train together, including for special operations and anti-gang work. The sheriff’s office has also used the ballistic laboratory at the Aurora Police Department.

When it comes to the May 2023 shooting, Irvin has said Kane deputies interrupted an attempt by Aurora police to arrest Moriarty peacefully.

At the time, Moriarty had been implicated in domestic violence, vandalism, robbery and fleeing and eluding police cases that Aurora officers were investigating.

According to an Aurora police report, Moriarty had told a police officer he would rather kill himself by having police shoot him than return to prison.

So the night before the shooting, the Aurora Special Operations Group watched Moriarty’s home and were planning to arrest him once he came outside and impound his car.

According to police Cmdr. Steve Stemmet — the supervisor of the SOG — officers had a ballistic shield, put spike strips around the car and were ready to use a distraction device to arrest Moriarty without injury.

Despite that plan, Aurora police say Hain instructed his deputies to tow Moriarty’s vehicle.

Marked sheriff’s squads showed up, and Aurora, believing the situation had been compromised, abandoned their plan. The sheriff’s office then towed the car.

The deadly shooting happened the next day on Randall Road at the Geneva-Batavia border.

Hain stood by his comments on Tuesday afternoon.

“Holding news releases full of misinformation does nothing for anyone,” Hain said. “We towed Moriarty’s vehicle based on our independent investigation and because Aurora refuses to integrate with us. We did not know the extent of their plan.”

Irvin said on Tuesday that Hain had arranged to meet with him and the chief last fall to discuss the situation but did not attend the meeting.

Hain says he backed out of the meeting because he learned other people would be there, adding he thought there would be “too many cooks in the kitchen.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20240917/news/aurora-mayor-calls-for-sheriff-to-retract-lies/