Illinois officials now say that a suburban police sergeant involved in a fatal crash out of state will lose his driver’s license for a year — even though he is already back at work on the patrol division.
Mark Mogan, an officer in far northwest suburban Lake in the Hills, was detained on suspicion of drunken driving in Lake Geneva, Wis., in December after his vehicle struck a woman who later died. This month, Wisconsin authorities dropped the criminal case against him when they determined he likely was within the legal alcohol limit.
But because Mogan refused to take sobriety tests after the crash, a judge in Walworth County, Wis., ordered the officer to forfeit his driver’s license for one year.
Yet Illinois officials said earlier this week that there were no restrictions on Mogan’s license and that his driving record was clear.
Following the Tribune’s inquiry, Mogan’s Wisconsin records were faxed to the Illinois Secretary of State’s office Friday morning, and his driver’s license will be suspended for one year in Illinois beginning April 8, officials said.
Why Illinois authorities did not initially become aware of the out-of-state license suspension is unclear.
David Druker, spokesman for the Illinois Secretary of State, said Wisconsin officials told his office they had sent a notification, but Druker said it was never received.
A Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles official said Wednesday that the information was put in a national registry to which Illinois officials have access. Druker said that the Secretary of State’s office only checks that registry when drivers are applying for or renewing their license.
The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators maintains the national registry of driver’s license suspensions and other related data.
“Generally speaking, if one state was to suspend a driver that is licensed in another state, they would provide that information back to that home state,” said the association’s vice president, Ian Grossman. “If in Illinois it’s not something you would lose your license for, Illinois is not going to take your license away.”
Druker said Mogan renewed his Illinois driver’s license on Feb. 15, which court records show is the same day he was ordered in Wisconsin to forfeit his license. It was due to expire in April.
Neither Mogan nor his lawyer in Illinois could be reached for comment Friday.
Mogan also is a village trustee in Hebron, Ill., near the Wisconsin state line, and is running against three other candidates for village president in Tuesday’s local election.
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Lake in the Hills officials said they returned Mogan to the patrol division after the drunken-driving case was dropped, with the understanding that his Illinois driver’s license was valid. He had been on paid leave since the arrest.
“One of the minimum requirements of being an Illinois police officer is to have a valid Illinois driver’s license,” said Amanda Schmitt, public information officer for the Lake in the Hills Police Department. “He is capable of duty performance at this time and should that change, we will re-evaluate the situation as standards and law would dictate.”
Linda Cicero, the aunt of Samantha Norris, the 29-year-old woman killed in the crash, said Friday she had just sent off a letter to the Secretary of State’s office asking officials to honor the Wisconsin license suspension.
“I guess it’s better late than never,” she said Friday when told Mogan’s license would be suspended. “It’s something. … Some justice is better than nothing. But I just don’t understand why it’s taken so long. … If there’s a glitch in the process, then they need to fix it.”
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