A Montgomery Village Board member pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of disorderly conduct.
In exchange for the plea, Stephen Jungermann will receive six months of supervision, will have to perform 30 hours of public service and gave an apology to the family who accused him of swearing during an August confrontation over late-night fireworks.
Jungermann, who is running for re-election, was charged with three counts of disorderly conduct, all misdemeanors, after an Aug. 15 argument with a family on the 2100 block of Kathleen Court, according to Montgomery police.
Jungermann, who lives on the 2100 block of Emma Court, was arrested and charged after the residents signed complaints against him, according to police. He was released on his own recognizance.
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Jungermann was scheduled for a bench trial to begin at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Kendall County Courthouse in Yorkville.
“We were set for trial,” said Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis. “When we got to court, the defense attorney and I spoke about the case with the assistant handling the case, and we felt discussing it with the judge prior to trial was a good strategy. … After the judge’s recommendation, (Jungermann) decided to enter a plea of guilty.”
To Jungermann’s understanding, the charge will drop off his record once he completes his supervision, he said.
With the case resolved, Jungermann said he can finally tell his side of the story.
“For months, I have had to bite my tongue,” Jungermann said. “Now that this is over, I can talk and say, ‘This is what happened.’ “
Montgomery police received a fireworks complaint at 11 p.m. Aug. 15 from the 2100 block of Kathleen Court, where an officer could not find any evidence of fireworks, according to police.
Jungermann told police that fireworks had gone off in the area and that another resident told him fireworks had been shot toward a house, according to police reports obtained by The Beacon-News.
“It startled both me and my wife awake,” Jungermann said. “About five minutes later there was another incidence of fireworks and … I actually saw the flashes, so I got out of bed.”
Jungermann said his backyard faces Griffin Drive, and he saw two teens he couldn’t identify shooting fireworks at a house, then running north on Griffin, he said.
“I saw a crime being committed,” Jungermann said.
Jungermann said he got in his car and drove south on Griffin and down Kathleen Circle, where he saw a man walking his dog. He said he stopped his car and asked if the other man had seen fireworks.
“He goes, ‘Yeah, they were just shooting fireworks at my house,’ ” Jungermann said.
The man gave Jungermann the address of the suspected fireworks shooters, and as Jungermann pulled into the cul-de-sac, he saw a handful of teens running for cars, he said.
A man told police his teenage son had been having a bonfire with friends when Jungermann arrived and confronted some of them about shooting fireworks, “swearing at them and calling them names,” according to police reports.
In their complaints, the family said Jungermann “knowingly alarmed and disturbed” family members by driving to their home after 10:30 p.m., yelling profanities at a teen and his friends, and “refusing to leave,” according to copies of the complaints.
In statements to police, family members said Jungermann repeatedly swore at them and at a police officer who responded.
In his own statement to police, Jungermann acknowledged using profanity but said it was not directed at the teen and that he didn’t go onto the family’s property during the argument.
“I said, ‘Are you the (expletives) that were shooting fireworks at houses?’ ” Jungermann said.
Jungermann pulled over to the side of the road and called police, he said.
He saw one kid get on the phone, apparently calling his dad who was at work, Jungermann said.
“The dad comes home,” Jungermann said.
The men shook hands and introduced each other, Jungermann said.
“I tell him what’s going on,” Jungermann said. “He tells me it can’t be any of these guys.”
The man had his son come over to where the men were talking, and in the meantime a police car pulled up, Jungermann said.
Around that time, the mom, whom Jungermann thinks was asleep before, came out of the house.
“The dad, the son and I are standing in the middle of the street still having a normal conversation, and she comes out and she starts yelling at me,” Jungermann said.
The officer talked to Jungermann and the family separately, he said. Jungermann told the officer he couldn’t identify either person who was allegedly shooting off fireworks but knew it was someone at that party, Jungermann said.
“I am talking to the officer and saying I want you to inform them on how the village ordinance works about fireworks,” Jungermann said. “You don’t have to be the one shooting them off. If you’re there, you can be considered guilty because it’s illegal in the state of Illinois.”
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Jungermann didn’t identify himself as a board member to the responding officer but did call the police chief the next day and told him what had happened, Jungermann said.
Less than a week later, Jungermann got a call from the Police Department saying the family wanted to file charges of disorderly conduct against him for cursing at the teen, he said.
Jungermann said his apology is real. But he also thinks the teens behind the fireworks owe the community an apology, he said.
“If I did something that offended them, I apologize,” Jungermann said. “But once again, we go back to this accountability issue.”
Instead of letting police handle the situation, Jungermann took it upon himself to investigate, Weis said.
“If you’re overstepping your authority or putting yourself in a position where you are acting as the police, those situations can get out of hand,” Weis said.
The judge mentioned that as an elected official, Jungermann is held to a higher standard and should handle situations such as this with more professionalism, Weis said.
“Should I have cursed at the kids? Probably not,” Jungermann said. “They looked older than they were. But I think most people in my situation being startled awake … you would be a little annoyed as well. And maybe I am in a position being a Village Board member where I know more about some of the issues going on in the west side.”
Jungermann serves on the Village Board in a seat that expires in 2017, according to the village website. He previously served as chairman of Montgomery’s Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals, according to the website.
If anything, Jungermann said, this case has made him more determined to address issues he sees affecting west side subdivisions.
“I am still running for re-election,” Jungermann said. “This makes me even more resolved at trying to find a solution to the problems that are happening in the west side.”
Twitter @hannahmleone