Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin and commanders of the Aurora Police Department Tuesday hit back at comments made recently by Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain.
The comments were made by Hain during a memorial ceremony for K-9 Officer Hudson, a police dog who was killed during a May 23, 2023, incident in which 38-year-old Jim Moriarty was shot and killed by Kane County Sheriff’s deputies.
Hain, while speaking during the ceremony, made comments about a lack of communication between his deputies and the Aurora police, intimating the police had responsibility for the dog’s death and the 2023 incident.
Hain had made comments about the incident in a Chicago Sun-Times article earlier this year, and Irvin also criticized those comments after they were printed.
On Tuesday, Irvin called a press conference with the Aurora police command staff to say Hain “selfishly and recklessly” turned the memorial last week into “a platform” for himself.
Irvin drew attention to statements made after the memorial by Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser, who was standing next to Hain during the event, who said, “I respectfully disagree with the statements made by the Kane County sheriff …”
“I do not place blame on the Aurora Police Department or the mayor of Aurora for the events that transpired,” she said in her statement. “While I attended the ceremony to show support, I was unaware that such statements would be made.
“At this time, the matter remains under investigation by the Major Crimes Task Force and is under review by my office. We will continue to seek justice based on the facts and the law.”
Irvin said Hain should apologize for his statements about the Aurora police, “but we know that won’t happen.”
Also during Tuesday’s press conference, Aurora Police Cmdr. Steve Stemmet went over the events that led up to the 2023 shooting incident, which took place after a car chase that ended in a crash near Fabyan Parkway and Randall Road on the border of Batavia and Geneva.
Aurora police said in an incident report that Kane County deputies compromised an undercover operation they were involved in outside Moriarty’s apartment on the West Side of Aurora. Police were waiting by his parked car on May 22 with the intent of arresting him without incident, according to the report.
Stemmet said after hours of undercover work by Aurora police, the officers were informed by Kane County Sheriff’s deputies that the sheriff had ordered them to seize the car, which they did with marked squad cars.
Aurora police left the area, figuring their operation had been compromised, according to earlier reports.
The next day, Moriarty is accused of carjacking a Honda Accord in Aurora and leading deputies on the chase that ended at Randall and Fabyan, where the vehicle was stopped by sheriff’s deputies. At that point, officials said Moriarty exited the vehicle and displayed a weapon toward deputies.
A police dog was deployed and became involved in an active struggle with the man, officials said.
An exchange of gunfire occurred, officials said, during which the man and the police dog were shot. Both Moriarty and the police dog died during the shootout.
At Tuesday’s press conference, Aurora Police Deputy Chief Matt Thomas mentioned a number of ways Aurora police and Kane County Sheriff’s deputies cooperate and collaborate.
He said the police are “committed to back each other up” in the name of safety for themselves and the public.
Aurora Police Chief Keith Cross said he had never heard of the head of a police agency criticizing another police agency like Hain did, and called any intimation that Aurora police were responsible for the shooting incident “is inexcusable.”
slord@tribpub.com
