Plainfield Parks Commissioner Facing Battery Charge

A Plainfield Park District commissioner will get his day in court this month.

Peter Steinys, who was elected in April to a six-year term on the board, faces an ordinance violation charge of battery stemming from campaign rivalry between new park district Executive Director Garrett Peck and his then-opponent, Democrat Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant.

Peck, who also serves as a Village of Plainfield trustee, unsuccessfully challenged Bertino-Tarrant, the former Will County Regional Superintendent of Schools, for the new 49th District Senate seat last fall.

Steinys, 56, was arrested by Plainfield police on Nov. 7, 2012 and charged with battery. The arrest came days after an alleged altercation over campaign signs with a Bertino-Tarrant campaign worker. Steinys is accused of attacking the other man during the alleged incident.

Steinys did not return a call from Patch on Tuesday.

Joliet Park District Board President Glen Marcum, who ran Bertino-Tarrant’s campaign, said he did not witness the incident, but arrived on the scene at the same time as police. He said the alleged incident followed what had been a hotly contested race between Peck and Bertino-Tarrant — complete with sign-stealing.

“We had several people witness people stealing signs and they all came back to the same vehicle, same person, and that person was Peter Steinys,” Marcum said. At the time, Marcum said, Bertino-Tarrant’s campaign decided not to report the alleged thefts.

“We chose not to address it because that’s what they want us to do,” he said.

On the eve of the election, Marcum said the campaign worker, who is also a Joliet firefighter, had put up some Bertino-Tarrant signs in a field near Route 59 and Feeney Drive in Plainfield. Later that same evening, he went back to check on them.

When he did, “He [saw] that all of Jennifer’s signs were down and all of Peck’s signs were up,” Marcum said. He said the volunteer began to put the Bertino-Tarrant signs back up when he spotted someone nearby.

“Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a person dressed in black, lying in the ditch” near Route 59, Marcum said. He said the volunteer called out to the person, telling him to leave the signs alone.

According to Marcum, the volunteer began to walk away, when a white Volkswagen pulled up and Steinys got out and confronted him. Steinys is accused of pushing the Joliet firefighter, who had recently had rotator cuff surgery.

Marcum said the firefighter/campaign volunteer was not injured in the incident.

“I got there right when the police were there,” Marcum said, saying by then, Steinys had left.

He was arrested by Plainfield police on Nov. 7, 2012 on a local ordinance violation charge of battery.

Steinys entered a not guilty plea in December 2012. After he was a no-show at a bench trial set for March 2013, the trial was rescheduled, according to Will County court documents.

Now, the bench trial is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 9, at the Plainfield Law Enforcement Center, 14300 S. Coil Plus Dr.

Because it's an ordinance violation case — as opposed to a state misdemeanor or felony charge — the case is being tried at the Plainfield branch court, and is not punishable by jail time.