May 18, 2024
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JROTC instructor charged with attacking student at Crete-Monee High School

Internal investigation of instructor still ongoing

By Felix Sarver
Dallas Bibbs

Dallas Bibbs (Will County Sheriff's Office)

Will County prosecutors have charged a JROTC instructor with grabbing and shaking a student at Crete-Monee High School, as well as shoving the student into a wall.

On Sept. 7, Dallas Bibbs, 53, of Crown Point, Indiana, was arrested and booked into the Will County jail on two counts of aggravated battery.

Bibbs was a new teacher at Crete-Monee High School this year, said Calla Erickson, spokeswoman for Crete-Monee School District 201-U.

Erickson provided a statement from the district that said Bibbs has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation. That investigation is still ongoing as of Monday, she said.

Bibbs is the school’s instructor for a program called Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or JROTC.

The program that prepares high school students for leadership roles while making them aware of their rights, responsibilities and privileges as U.S. citizens, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Bibbs’ arrest was the result of a Crete Police Department investigation of a Sept. 2 report of a disturbance between a teacher and a student, according to a statement from Crete Police Chief Scott Pieritz.

A school resource officer responded to that report at Crete-Monee High School, 1515 W. Exchange St., Crete, Pieritz said.

The school is about 26 miles southeast of Joliet.

The school resource officer gathered video surveillance, witness statements and interviews over the course of several school days, Pieritz said.

“It was determined that JROTC Instructor Dallas Bibbs used improper force during a school discipline issue with a student,” Pieritz said.

The Will County State’s Attorney’s Office approved the felony aggravated battery charges against Bibbs, who surrendered himself on Sept. 2 to the Crete Police Department.

At a court hearing on Sept. 8, Judge Fred Harvey found probable cause to continue Bibbs’ detention at the Will County jail and set his bond at $25,000, according to the court minutes in Bibbs’ case.

As a condition of bond, Bibbs is not allowed to have contact with the alleged juvenile victim or Crete-Monee High School. Harvey allowed Bibbs to reside in Indiana.