DuPage Sheriff’s Son Taken On Ride Alongs, Chased Fleeing Suspect

April 25, 2012 12:00 AM " WHEATON, Ill. (CBS) - It could endanger people and cost taxpayers plenty. The DuPage County Sheriff’s son regularly goes on ride alongs with officers; he’s not a cop, but sometimes he acts like one.

CBS 2’s Pam Zekman and the Better Government Association obtained videotape of one of those ride alongs.

The dashboard camera of a DuPage County Sheriff’s squad car captured video of an erratic driver going the wrong way last year. The driver turned into oncoming traffic, and continued driving, then pulled into a strip mall and fled on foot.

He was chased on foot, but not by a sheriff’s deputy – instead, then-18-year-old Patrick Zaruba, the son of DuPage County Sheriff John Zaruba was the one who ran after the driver.

BGA investigator Andrew Schroedter said, “The teenager that was driving the car got away, even though Pat Zaruba, the sheriff’s son, was chasing him.”

Sources inside the sheriff’s office were afraid to speak publicly, for fear of reprisals by their boss, but they said that incident was the worst of many abuses they’ve coped with, during the dozens of rides they estimate sheriff’s son has taken over the years.

“He’s not a deputy, but he dresses like one,” Schroedter said. “At times, he’s carried a flashlight, pepper spray, police radio, Kevlar vest with the word sheriff on it. Any citizen that saw him on the street, we’re told, would think he’s a deputy.” "

Click here to read the whole article