The case against a Naperville business owner who says he has been singled out by police systematically for years never had its day in court. An allegation that Basim Esmail was driving with one headlight was dismissed in DuPage County Circuit Court Tuesday.
Esmail, 63, who owns Extra Value Liquors, had several supporters speak to the Naperville City Council on his behalf last week, when he shared with local media a DVD from a police squad car’s dash-mounted camera that showed the traffic stop early on March 22.
In 1997, after the city had declined to renew his liquor license, Esmail took out a series of ads in The Sun that adopted the term “Napergate” and criticized an array of local officials. He asserts that he has been unfairly targeted with “silent discrimination” in a string of traffic stops and citations for minor offenses for which most other motorists simply receive warnings.
Police Chief Bob Marshall said after the May 5 council meeting that he had previously advised Esmail to file an affidavit laying out his repeated allegations of unfair treatment, and Esmail submitted his sworn statement the following day. The internal complaint triggered an investigation of the two police officers involved in the March 22 incident, Jeremy Womack and Scott Donofrio, department spokesman Sgt. Bill Davis said. Both remain on active duty during the probe.
Davis said records are not readily available that would address Esmail’s assertion that he has been pulled over by Naperville police some 200 times in the past 35 years, but he confirmed that there have been 13 stops since 2004, which resulted in seven tickets and five warnings. DuPage County court records dating back to 1985 name Esmail in 24 cases, with charges involving equipment violations, speeding, improper lane changes, driving without a valid license and registration, and failure to dim headlights.
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Addressed directly in an email from Esmail that was shared multiple times with The Sun, Davis adhered to department policy and declined to comment on the investigation. The correspondence cautioned that as the internal investigation moves forward, Davis will “be under the spotlight like no other Internal Affairs Sergeant in the history of Naperville,” and claimed Esmail has been contacted by two local church groups interested in supporting him.
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