DuPage County Undersheriff Eddie Moore stopped and offered assistance to a man he struck with an SUV in the parking lot of an Oak Brook restaurant last month, according to police reports obtained by the Daily Herald.
Those actions, along with an apparent mix-up over a phone number, led Oak Brook police to determine the candidate for county sheriff should not face criminal charges for leaving the scene without reporting the crash to police, the reports state.
“Due to the circumstances of the incident, including Edmond (Moore) stopping to check on (the man) and offering aid, (the man)’s refusal of medical assistance, and the subsequent discovery that the phone number provided was misinterpreted due to a language barrier, I determined that probable cause did not exist” to charge Moore with misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident, Oak Brook police officer Justin Zychowski wrote in the incident report.
The release of the reports comes as an internal DuPage sheriff’s investigation also cleared Moore of wrongdoing Wednesday.
According to police reports, the accident happened about 11 p.m. Feb. 14, when Moore was driving a Lincoln Navigator SUV through a parking lot to pick up his wife after they dined at Gibson’s Steakhouse.
A man who works at Gibson’s said the SUV struck him from behind and rolled over his lower right leg, leaving a tire mark on his pants, according to the reports.
The man later reported to police that he had a swollen ankle. He also told an officer that Moore smelled of alcohol after the crash, according to the incident report.
In the incident report, a police officer said he reviewed surveillance video from a nearby bank that shows the Navigator hitting the man. Two of the man’s co-workers also told police they witnessed the crash.
Those witnesses told police Moore got out of the vehicle after the impact and asked if the man was OK.
One of the witnesses said she did not call for an ambulance because the man did not appear to want one, reports state. The other said she did not call an ambulance out of respect for the man’s wishes and concern about the cost of the ambulance, according to the report.
Moore provided a written statement to the police through his attorney.
In that statement, Moore said he saw someone in dark clothing fall near the driver’s side front door of his SUV as he drive through what he described as a dark parking lot. He said he did not hear or feel an impact, and that there was no damage to the Navigator.
His wife also asked if the man wanted them to call the police or an ambulance, and the man declined, Moore stated. She then gave the man her phone number, according to his statement.
The incident report indicates that the man sought medical attention later and returned to work the next day.
Oak Brook police said the man visited the police department Feb. 17, after he was unable to reach Moore at the number he’d been given.
According to the incident report, it appeared the man — or someone who wrote the number down for him — transposed digits in the phone number. The report states the number was “misinterpreted due to a language barrier.”
Sean Noonan, who is running against Moore in the GOP primary, has criticized Moore’s handling of the accident. He said Moore should have called the police immediately.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260312/news/oak-brook-police-release-details-about-crash-involving-dupage-county-undersheriff/