Joliet officer arrested on domestic battery charge, police say

One of the Joliet police officers involved in the arrest of Eric Lurry has been arrested and charged with domestic battery, police said.

About 10:42 p.m. Friday, officers responded to the 1300 block of Fitzer Drive for a welfare check, according to a Joliet police news release.

“After investigation of this incident, off-duty Officer Andrew McCue was taken into custody for domestic battery,” police said.

A warrant was issued for McCue and he was released on cash bond, police said.

“Per Joliet Police Department policy, McCue was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal investigation. This case is still under investigation,” police said.

Judge Fred Harvey signed a warrant on Saturday for McCue’s arrest on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge, court records show. The warrant carried a $20,000 bond.

The charge alleged McCue pushed a woman “about the body.”

Sgt. Dwayne English, police department spokesman, would not discuss the case, saying he was “unable to comment to the specifics of what led to the charge at this time.”

McCue is one of four Joliet police officers who are being sued by Nicole Lurry over the death of her husband Eric Lurry, who died after his arrest Jan. 28, 2020.

Lurry’s death and the release of video depicting McCue and another officer apparently probing Lurry’s mouth for drugs as he collapsed into a coma led to several protests in Joliet over the summer. Nicole Lurry is running for Joliet City Council in the April 6 election.

McCue, along with Joliet police Lt. Jeremy Harrison, Joliet police Sgt. Douglas May and Officer Jose Tellez, were accused in Nicole Lurry’s lawsuit of of engaging in “willful and wanton acts and reckless conduct” that led to the death of her husband.

The Will County Coroner’s office ruled Lurry’s death an accident due to drug intoxication. Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow said in a memo that Lurry’s death “did not result directly from any action or inaction by an officer of the Joliet Police Department.”

The alleged victim named in the domestic battery complaint against McCue filed a petition for a protective order against him on Feb. 3, court records show.

Judge M. Thomas Carney denied the February request for an emergency protective order on the same day following a court hearing where the woman was present but not McCue, according to court records.

Carney dismissed the case as the “petitioner did not sustain their burden of proof,” according to court records.

The woman’s petition said McCue and her are in a relationship and have lived together with her children, and that their relationship “has deteriorated over time.”

Her petition claimed that during a discussion about their relationship, McCue had told her, “If you ever (expletive) leave me, I will take all the kids and you’ll never (expletive) see them again.”

The petition further claimed McCue threatened to kill a pet hamster that belonged to the woman’s daughter and had told her son to “drink a bottle of Drano and kill himself.”

“I am fearful of him as are the children based on the things he says and his violent threats,” she said in the petition.

The petition also accused McCue of using corporal punishment with the woman’s daughter leading to the involvement of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

“I believe an OOP (order of protection) is necessary at this time until he can lessen his aggression and anger towards us and allow us to retrieve all our property,” the woman’s petition said.