Crime & Safety
Plainfield Park Board Member's Trial to Resume Monday
The case was continued last month to give Peter Steinys time to find a new lawyer.
A Plainfield Park District commissioner accused of battering a Joliet firefighter over a political spat will return to court on Sept. 30.
Peter Steinys, 56, faces a local ordinance violation charge stemming from an alleged argument over campaign sign placement.
The trial began in July but has been delayed several times, most recently because his former attorney, Ragan Freitag, is no longer with the law firm that represented Steinys.
Read: Steinys Attorney Out; Battery Trial Put on Hold
Steinys appeared in court Aug. 26, temporarily represented by attorney and Village of Plainfield trustee Dan Rippy, to ask Judge Joseph Polito for a delay while he found a new lawyer.
Now that he has — according to court documents, Steinys is now represented by Paul Napolski — Steinys is due back in court on Monday.
Accused of Battery
Michael Carlin accuses Steinys of hitting him with a car door, chasing him and grabbing him with both hands after a disagreement over who had the right to place campaign signs in a field near Feeney Drive and Route 59 on the eve of the Nov. 6 election.
Carlin was a volunteer for State Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, while Steinys was working with Plainfield trustee Garrett Peck's unsuccessful Senate campaign last fall. Peck remains a village trustee and is now the executive director of the Plainfield Park District.
The firefighter, who was on leave from work following shoulder surgery at the time of the alleged incident, claims he confronted a never-identified "man in black" who had allegedly removed Bertino-Tarrant signs and replaced them with Peck election signs.
Carlin said he had approached a car where the "man in black" was sitting with Steinys when the alleged battery took place.
Carlin testified on the first day of the trial in July; prior to the delays, two Plainfield police officers were also scheduled to testify, along with Steinys.
The trial is slated to resume at 1 p.m. Monday at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet.
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