Prosecutor declines to issue charges against Belleville city clerk

Neither Belleville City Clerk Dallas Cook nor his political adversary Rose Wilson will face charges after St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly on Wednesday rejected the case against Cook for allegedly filing a false police report and Wilson for criminal trespass and theft of city paperwork.

“The allegations Mr. Cook made against Ms. Wilson are unsupported by the evidence. However, there is also insufficient evidence to prove that Mr. Cook himself knowingly committed a felony crime,” Kelly said.

Belleville police brought the investigation to the state’s attorney for an independent review.

“If the police had done nothing, there would be an appearance they ignored a complaint against a public official,” Kelly wrote. “If they had issued a charge themselves, they would be accused of getting involved in local politics. So, the chief asked our office to review it independently, so they could get back to the business of public safety.”

When asked if she was disappointed in Kelly’s decision not to issue charges, Wilson said, “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t.”

“I didn’t expect any action, because I didn’t do anything wrong,” Cook said. “I am just very disappointed that it had to go this far. I just hope we can move on from this.”

Belleville police were called on May 27 for a report of a possible theft and trespass by Wilson. Cook claimed he saw Wilson enter the alderman’s closet next to the public counter and remove paperwork the day before, according to a letter written by Belleville Police Chief William Clay III on June 23. Cook said Tuesday that he never said he saw Wilson enter the closet, but wanted police to investigate whether Wilson did go into the closet.

In a statement to Belleville police provided to the BND by Cook, he stated that on May 26 at about 5:20 p.m. he saw Wilson come into city hall.

“Upon her entry, she did not have any paperwork in her possession,” Cook wrote.

Cook wrote that he was talking to Belleville Alderman Roger Wigginton and heard the door to the alderman’s closet close.

“At that time, I turned around and saw Ms. Wilson standing in front of the alderman’s closet door now with a stack of paper in her hands,” Cook wrote. “Clearly, it would be extremely inappropriate for a member of the public to remove information from the alderman’s mailboxes.”

Clay asked detectives to review surveillance video from the city hall cameras.

“The video clearly captures Ms. Wilson walking to the counter and picking up some paperwork from the public side of the counter ... At no time did Ms. Wilson enter the alderman’s closet,” Clay stated in a June 23 letter to Wilson.

Wilson was at city hall that day to turn in a Freedom of Information Act request regarding Michael Hagberg’s contact with Cook and whether Hagberg was allowed into the vault and the city clerk’s office, an assertion Cook denies. Wilson requested emails sent by Cook to Michael Hagberg. Cook wanted to name Hagberg as his assistant, but Hagberg was not a union member. The day Hagberg showed up for work, a human resources assistant called police to report that a non-employee was behind the counter in the clerk’s office. Five officers responded. Cook later named Jennifer Starnes as his assistant.

Wilson claimed Cook made the allegations to retaliate after she turned in the FOIA request on May 26.

“He’s a public official and needs to be held accountable,” Wilson said. “He badgered me, and he badgered me relentlessly and he needs to answer for that.”

“Politics is a dirty game, and I don’t want to play it with Rose Wilson, who’s been playing it for 30 years,” Cook said. “I hope we can put this to rest, and she will allow me to do my job.”

This story was originally published July 22, 2015 at 10:12 AM with the headline "Prosecutor declines to issue charges against Belleville city clerk."