911 tape thought lost played during Richmond hearing

LIBERTYVILLE, IL — A Waukegan police dispatch recording previously thought to have been lost was played in court Thursday as attorneys for former University of Illinois basketball player Jereme Richmond sought to have weapons charges against him dismissed.

Waukegan police officer Joseph Baysinger listened from the witness stand in Judge John T. Phillips’ Lake County courtroom as the dispatcher on the tape described the scene at a home in Waukegan Aug. 8.

The dispatcher said the father of Richmond’s ex-girlfriend had called police and told them Richmond and three other people were at the house. The dispatcher referred to the police code for a subject with a gun, Baysinger testified.

But the tape and the questioning of Baysinger were not enough for Phillips to rule on a motion to have weapons charges against Richmond dismissed. That ruling could come later this month after Mike Leusch, another Waukegan police officer on the scene with Baysinger, returns to the witness stand for additional questioning.

Attorneys for Richmond, 19, and Matthew Riley, 22, who also faces charges in the Aug. 8 incident, revisited Baysinger’s testimony in December, in which he said a gun was found in a vehicle at the scene.

On Thursday, Baysinger testified that although the dispatcher said four people were on the scene, he wanted to search the rear compartment of the Chrysler Pacifica for any additional people.

Based on police training, “you never rely on all the information 100 percent,” Baysinger said. “You continue to do your job until you feel safe.”

Baysinger testified that when he opened the vehicle’s rear hatch, he found no people, but a gun was lying in plain sight.

Richmond’s attorney, Lawrence Wade, and Riley’s attorney, Eric Reinhart, attempted to show Baysinger had no immediate need to look in the back of the Chrysler.

“So you, on your own, decided to search the vehicle?” Wade asked.

“For people,” Baysinger replied.

“You weren’t looking for a gun?” Wade said.

“No,” Baysinger answered.

Riley asked Baysinger whether he could have looked through an open window to check the vehicle’s rear compartment. Baysinger said such action would have been “poor tactics” and that doing so would have left him vulnerable.

Prosecutor James Newman asked whether the dispatcher’s comment that a gun was reported at the scene affected how Baysinger responded to the incident. Baysinger said it influenced everything from how he stood to which commands he yelled.

Still, Baysinger testified that he didn’t know who had a gun — or whether anyone was carrying a gun — until everyone had been searched.

“I was concerned with the situation overall,” he said.

During a hearing in December, Leusch testified that the father of Richmond’s ex-girlfriend told police after the incident that Richmond arrived at his door, threatened him and retrieved something from one of three other people.

The other person had a bulge under his pants the father thought was a gun, but no gun was found under Richmond’s or anyone else’s clothing during a search, Leusch said last month. He also said he didn’t notice any guns in Richmond’s possession.

After the incident, Richmond was arrested and charged with unlawful use of a weapon, possession of a firearm and other charges, according to authorities.

Richmond, a star Waukegan High School basketball player who played one season at the University of Illinois and left to pursue a professional basketball career, also was charged with battery in connection with a Aug. 7 altercation with his ex-girlfriend, according to court documents.

Wade filed a motion in December to have weapons charges against Richmond dropped after a tape of a 911 call was believed to have been deleted. Newman said Thursday, though, the dispatcher had since found the recording.

Late last month, Richmond was placed on 24-hour home detention after authorities said he did not respond to two phone calls from a pre-trial compliance officer. Richmond was supposed to be home from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, in accordance with his bond.

Riley faces charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. He was arrested again Dec. 12 and charged with intent to manufacture or deliver cocaine and possession of a controlled substance.

Read the story here.

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