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Libel Case Between DeKalb Police Chief, Crystal Lake Man Continues Wednesday

Katie Finlon
/
WNIJ

A status hearing for a libel case involving DeKalb’s police chief starts at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the DeKalb County Courthouse.

DeKalb police chief Gene Lowery sued Tom Salvi in 2016 for saying what he calls untrue things that could have cost Lowery his job and is asking for $300,000 from Salvi.

Salvi, a physician and former state Representative candidate, was arrested in Crystal Lake in 2010 for disorderly conduct after allegedly asking if he could undress a woman in a parking lot. Those charges were later dropped. 

Lowery was deputy police chief there at the time.

According to court documents, Salvi sent multiple emails to DeKalb city officials – including then-mayor John Rey – that said Lowery was an “aggressive thug” and a “fraud” and that Lowery should be fired as a result. Court documents show that Rey, Lowery’s employer, told Lowery he did not believe the allegations.