Times Staff and Wire Reports

MARKHAM

Former Harvey officer free on $10K bond

A former Harvey police officer is free on bond and faces charges of felony bribery, official misconduct and theft after prosecutors said he let a Thornton High School student accused of drug possession go free.

Forty-one-year-old Neal Frundle appeared Wednesday before Cook County Judge Reginald Baker, who set a $10,000 signature bond.

Prosecutors said April 7 Frundle arrived at Thornton High School in Harvey, where a student was found to have marijuana and $1,100 in cash. School officials inventoried the items, prosecutors said, and somewhere between the high school and the police department Frundle let the student go free, but after taking $600 and the marijuana.

Frundle, a 12-year veteran of the Harvey Police Department, resigned from his position after his arrest Tuesday, Harvey spokeswoman Sandra Alvarado said. He is scheduled to appear May 29 in Cook County Court in Markham for a hearing, Cook County state's attorney's office spokesman Andy Conklin said.

The charges come after a citizen filed a complaint Friday with the Harvey Police Department, accusing Frundle of misconduct, Alvarado said. The department conducted an internal investigation, and Monday contacted the Cook County state's attorney's office, which approved charges.

SOUTH HOLLAND

Parent group to discuss kids with special needs

Thornton Township's youth committee is offering a support group for parents of children with special needs.

This group will meet from 3 to 4:14 p.m. Wednesdays at the Thornton Township Hall, 333 E. 162nd St. in South Holland.

The group is designed for parents to come together and interact with other parents who share some of the same struggles in raising children with special needs.

Parents will have the opportunity to share their feelings and hear from others in the group.

Interested parents should contact Tamisha Laster at (708) 596-6040, ext 3148.

COUNTRY CLUB HILLS

Mayor says demo work was firefighter training

Dwight Welch is defending his decision to have city firefighters raze his pool house during a training activity this week.

Welch, the mayor of Country Club Hills, said he wasn't trying to get free home repairs Wednesday. Instead, he said he was allowing 10 firefighters to get much-needed practice with axes and other equipment.

Welch has a permit to tear down the pool house in the south Chicago suburb and replace it with a garage.

But some of the mayor's critics say he shouldn't have used on-the-job city employees for the construction project.

Welch says city residents who need demolition work can contact the fire department.