CRYSTAL LAKE – The top cop for the village that saw one of its officers indicted this week for crashing his squad car while drunk was reported last year to be under the influence while on the job, documents show.

Six days before Ron Lyons retired as the full-time police chief for the Crystal Lake Park District, he was required to undergo testing to see whether he was under the influence of alcohol at work, according to documents obtained by the Northwest Herald under the Freedom of Information Act.

The village president of Prairie Grove, where Lyons serves as the village’s director of public safety and has worked part-time for the past nine years, said he was unaware of the situation.

“If the park district had an issue or concern, I would have thought that they would have at least notified us,” Village President Stan Duda said, adding that the village’s experience with Lyons has been “very positive with absolutely no incidents at all, and we have no reason not to fully support him.”

Duda said Lyons “cleaned up a lot of problems from the past,” pointing to his work creating hiring standards, building neighborhood watch programs, obtaining grants for the village and working closely with the schools.

Lyons did not return a call for comment Friday.

The documents obtained by the Northwest Herald include four reports made by fellow employees that list their suspicion that Lyons was under the influence of alcohol on the same day in February 2015 as well as a note from the same day describing Lyons’ trip to the hospital for testing. The documents do not include the results of the tests, which are exempt as medical records.

“Ron [Lyons] was slowed down in his movements, however not obviously impaired,” the note said. “He talked slower than normal and appeared more lethargic. Once the testing was done, I gathered the paperwork. I informed Ron that he is temporarily relieved of his duties until further contacted by [redacted].”

Lyons was not disciplined after the incident, park district Executive Director Jason Herbster said, adding that this is the only such incident regarding Lyons during his tenure with the park district.

Generally speaking, any employees that are suspected to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol are reported to the human resources department and are required to undergo a blood or urine test depending on the situation, Herbster said.

A positive result can sometimes lead to termination, suspension or a person being offered help, Herbster said, adding that “every situation is different.”

When asked if the incident led or in any way contributed to Lyons’ retirement, Herbster said he couldn’t comment as it was a personnel issue.

Herbster also pointed to that as the reason he responded in the negative when a Northwest Herald reporter asked back in June whether there were any issues leading up to Lyons’ retirement.