Embroiled Joliet police officer faces termination.

Joliet police officer Andrew McCue, who was arrested in March on a domestic battery charge, faces termination.

Police Chief Dawn Malec confirmed that she issued a termination notice to McCue last week but said she could not discuss it because he has filed for arbitration.

Joliet police officers facing discipline can take their case to an arbitrator or the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners to seek reduced penalties or reversals of the discipline.

McCue had been on administrative leave since Joliet police arrested him in a domestic incident on March 26. At the time, police issued a statement saying he was on leave “pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.”

The case against McCue on a criminal misdemeanor charge of domestic battery is pending in Will County Court. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Aug. 11.

Malec would not comment on the reason for firing McCue now.

McCue’s attorney in the criminal case and the attorney for the police union could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

At the time of McCue’s arrest, City Manager James Capparelli sent a memo to Joliet City Council members informing them of the incident. The memo stated that the Joliet officer was taken into custody for domestic battery and possession of a controlled substance.

McCue never has not been charged with a drug offense.

Capparelli, police and prosecutors have refused to discuss the Capparelli memo and whether illegal drugs were involved in the incident. However, Capparelli did tell the City Council at an open meeting that his memo was based on preliminary information and that he was disappointed that it had been provided to the media.

McCue also is one of the Joliet officers involved in the controversial January 2020 arrest of Eric Lurry in a drug case.

Lurry died during the course of his arrest from what investigators determined to be a lethal overdose of self-ingested drugs including heroin and fentanyl.

Squad car video from the arrest shows Lurry lapsing into a coma as he is transported to the Joliet Police station. Two officers, including McCue, probe Lurry’s mouth as he loses consciousness before eventually pulling out several small plastic bags that authorities said contained drugs.

McCue is seen in the video prying into Lurry’s mouth with a police baton during the search for the drugs.