Joliet Ex-Councilman Dickinson to face different charge

Wil County court, Joliet — Former Joliet Council member Don “Duck” Dickinson apparently will face a new charge, but what that is was not clarified in court Monday when he was there on the old one.

Dickinson’s attorney Frank Andreano told a Will County judge that the special prosecutor in the case intends to amend the complaint against Dickinson, who now faces a misdemeanor charge of attempted obstruction of justice.

Andreano said afterwards that he does not know what the new charge will be. The special prosecutor in the case was not saying.

“My understanding is that they’re going to file some kind of amended complaint, and the charge will change,” Andreano said. “We’ll have to deal with that when we see it.”

“No comment,” was all Special Prosecutor William Elward said after the court appearance.

Elward works for the Illinois State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor office and serves as a special prosecutor in a number of cases in Will County.

Anrdreano had filed a motion to dismiss the attempted obstruction of justice charge.

The charge filed against Dickinson in March stems from a police report he filed in November 2020 concerning an alleged threat made by Mayor Bob O’Dekirk when Dickinson was on the City Council.

The allegation, which included a report of at least one nude photo involving Dickinson, backfired on the council member when a state police investigation into the matter led to the charge against Dickinson and no allegations against O’Dekirk.

O’Dekirk at the time said he believed Dickinson had filed a false police report and should be prosecuted.

Dickinson resigned from the council three weeks after filing the report and making a statement at a council meeting that he felt like he was being blackmailed.

Andreano’s motion for dismissal contended that Dickinson’s allegation of a threat was more of a political matter and not a specific criminal accusation. As such, there was no criminal investigation to be obstructed to merit the charge of attempted obstruction of justice.

There was no discussion during the court appearance of Andreano’s motion for dismissal.

Judge Victoria Breslan set a pre-trial date for July 6.