Politics & Government

Will County Strike Heating Up With Union Member Claiming Assault

A member of the striking county union AFSCME said she had a run-in with a parking attendant who crossed the picket line.

A striking Will County Courthouse clerk said she was subjected to a torrent of obscenities and physically rough treatment by a parking attendant who crossed the picket line to work.

Veronica Perez, 36, a bond court clerk, said she leaned on her horn when a union parking attendant left her waiting at the entrance of the courthouse lot.

"I was honking," Perez said. "He was taking forever."

When the attendant approached her car, Perez said she told him, "I'm supporting. Obviously you're not."

The attendant is a American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees member but not participating in the union's strike, Perez said. The strike was in its third day Wednesday.

Perez said the attendant refused her entry into the lot, showered her with profanity, threatened to have her towed, and when he finally took her money, he roughly hit her hand. She said he hit her a second time when he gave her change.

Perez told police about the encounter but an officer made out only an incident report that does not identify any individuals or list possible charges.

"I wanted a real police report," she said. "This is an assault."

Calls to the Joliet Police Department about the incident and the report went unreturned.

Perez said she was shocked that the police did not take her complaint more seriously, especially in light of what she observes in bond court.

"I see silly stuff all the time being charges and this they don't want to charge," she said. "Really?"

Check out our Facebook page.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here