Days after mayor is charged, State Police search Alorton Village Hall

Illinois State Police investigators spent several hours at the Alorton Village Hall just three days after the town’s mayor was arrested and charged with official misconduct for allegedly impersonating a police officer while driving a village squad car she didn’t have permission to drive.

Gwen McCallum, a member of the village board and frequent critic of Mayor JoAnn Reed, said five Illinois State Police vehicles showed up about 9 a.m. until noon. McCallum said she didn’t know what they were doing, and an ISP spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Reed was charged Friday by St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly with two felony counts of official misconduct for allegedly driving a village police car on Sept. 15 on I-64 in Caseyville She was also charged with a Class A misdemeanor for using the vehicle’s red and blue lights while driving.

A witness called 911 and State Police that the vehicle was driven by a woman who weaved in and out of traffic with the emergency police lights flashing. The witness also stated that on the vehicle’s driver’s side door was a sign that read, “Mayor JoAnn Reed” bearing a photograph of her.

Kelly said he could not comment on the search by State Police because of a pending investigation.

Reed was charged in 2014 with bringing contraband into the village police department’s jail. She pleaded guilty, received probation and completed a drug rehabilitation program that erased the conviction from her record. She had previously been mayor. This allowed her to again run and be elected mayor a second time.

In 2016 she was charged with felony vote buying and in 2017 with illegally demoting a village police officer who had helped with the State Police investigation that led to the contraband charge in 2014.

Reed posted $7,500 bond Friday night and was released from the St. Clair County Jail.

This story was originally published October 1, 2018 at 12:58 PM.