Man charged with harassing Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow’s office

A Joliet man has repeatedly called Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow’s office to make complaints about Glasgow and his office, police said.

As early as April, Richard Gabrys, 62, of the 200 block of Colburn Avenue kept making phone calls to Glasgow’s office, Will County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kathy Hoffmeyer said. He was documented making 22 calls between July and August, she said.

“He would not specifically need anything, [he] just wanted to make complaints about the state’s attorney and the state’s attorney’s office,” Hoffmeyer said.

Gabrys was upset about a case the state’s attorney’s office handled but he never specified which case, Hoffmeyer said.

Gabrys also called Glasgow’s office with concerns regarding the Sixth Amendment, the U.S. Constitution and how an attorney cannot be a defense attorney and a prosecutor at the same time, she said.

When receptionists at Glasgow’s office tried to provide assistance or direct him elsewhere, Gabrys would yell and scream, Hoffmeyer said.

“He was being very verbally abusive,” Hoffmeyer said.

Gabrys was advised by sheriff’s deputies to stop and of the consequences of his actions, Hoffmeyer said, but he never stopped calling.

On Monday, Judge Art Smigielski signed a $20,000 bond warrant for Gabry’s arrest on misdemeanor charges of harassment by telephone and harassment through electronic communications, after an investigation by the sheriff’s office.

The charges were filed by Bill Elward, a special prosecutor for the Illinois Office of the State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor.

Elward charged Gabrys with making a phone call to the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office “with the intent to abuse or harass James Glasgow and his receptionists.” He also charged Gabrys with speaking to a receptionist at the state’s attorney’s office and “screaming obscenities” at her.

Glasgow’s spokeswoman, Carole Cheney, referred questions about Gabrys to Elward.