The Top Cop: DUI arrests by decorated Illinois State Police trooper questioned in court
CHICAGO (WLS) -- For several years, an Illinois State Police Trooper was named by a nonprofit the "Top Cop": a moniker given to the member of law enforcement who has made the most DUI arrests in a single year statewide.
But many of those arrested drivers tell the ABC7 I-Team they were sober, and in some cases, it took years to clear their names of serious criminal charges.
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A driver from Wisconsin says he owned his own trucking company but had to shut it down after losing his commercial driving license following a DUI arrest by the state trooper. Nearly two years later, the charges against him were ultimately dismissed, and he's since filed a lawsuit.
A restaurant executive said he was sober, and after months of court hearings, a bench trial ruled he was not guilty. He too is now suing the state.
The I-Team spent the past seven months investigating the trooper's arrests by filing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for State Police records and researching court cases stemming from the Top Cop: Illinois State Police Trooper Kevin Bradley.
Bradley did not respond to repeated requests for comment sent to him and his attorneys over the past few months. In two civil lawsuits, he has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
The Illinois State Police declined our requests for an on-camera interview, but an emailed statement reads, in part, "It would be irresponsible not to arrest and remove a person off the roads who is suspected of impaired driving... securing convictions for DUIs in a court of law is a separate process from the role troopers and other law enforcement officers play."
Public defenders representing drivers arrested by Trooper Bradley have alleged in evidence motions that Bradley follows a "common design" of "fabricating evidence to create probable cause for DUI alcohol arrests. Trooper Bradley repeats this pattern in hundreds of DUI arrests each year by writing cookie cutter field reports, which appear to be copied and pasted."
"Many of these trials result in findings of not guilty," public defenders wrote.
Even when their cases were dismissed or they were found not guilty, drivers tell the I-Team that the arrest and problems stemming from these experiences have never left them.
'It's turned my life upside down'
It was March 8, 2024, just after 3 a.m., when Ian Renfro said his life was ruined.
Renfro said he was passing through Chicago on his way home to Wisconsin when he decided he needed some sleep. As a truck driver, he said he knew of the Thornton Township Oasis overnight lot, so he pulled in, turned his car off and decided to shut his eyes.
He told the I-Team he awoke to someone in his vehicle.
"I woke up to like a hand reaching, like reaching over me," Renfro said.
In a copy of the dashboard camera footage of the stop obtained by the I-Team, Trooper Bradley is seen pulling up to Renfro's car, getting out of his vehicle, and opening Renfro's driver-side door, then reaching inside the vehicle before Renfro wakes up.
Trooper Bradley asked to see Renfro's license after he said he noticed Renfro's car had a temporary license plate. According to the trooper's report, after Renfro shared his license and mentioned he had a drink hours earlier, the trooper said he could smell alcohol.
The trooper asked Renfro if he would perform field sobriety tests, but Renfro declined.
"I was innocent and didn't do anything wrong," Renfro told the I-Team. "I refused, and I'm asking him, 'Why were you even in my vehicle?"
Attorney Christopher Smith represents Renfro.
"I would have done the same thing if I were Ian because of the way he [Trooper Bradley] was treating [Renfro] as a criminal," Smith told the I-Team.
Renfro was arrested and charged for felony aggravated DUI: Aggravated because the trooper accused Renfro of driving on a suspended license, a claim that was later dismissed in court.
The video and Trooper Bradley's report were the only evidence in his case.
Renfro's commercial driving license was eventually suspended, and he says he lost his trucking business.
"I was going to fight it all the way through a trial," Renfro said. "Whatever was needed to clear my name."
For nearly two years, Renfro says he traveled from Wisconsin to Chicago for court, where plea deals were consistently offered but he didn't accept. Then, this past December, on the day his trial was supposed to start, prosecutors dropped all charges based on a "review of the evidence."
The I-Team sat down with Renfro hours after the case against him was dismissed.
"It ruined my life," Renfro said. "It really did. Just to get a piece of it back today feels really good."
Renfro is now suing Trooper Bradley on grounds of malicious prosecution and that his civil rights were violated.
A judge has granted Bradley additional time to respond to the case, with a deadline of May 26.
Renfro says even though the charges have been dismissed, the experience still tops his mind.
"It really made me look differently at the justice system in its entirety," Renfro said.
The decorated 'Top Cop'
For three years, Bradley was named the state's "Top Cop", recognition given by the Illinois nonprofit "Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists" for the officer with the highest number of DUI arrests statewide in a calendar year.
During that three-year period, Bradley's DUI arrests grew steadily from 136 arrests in 2022 to 208 arrests in 2024, which led to him receiving the Mothers Against Drunk Driving "Hero Award" last year.
In civil lawsuits and criminal court filings, the I-Team found the trooper's arrests have been questioned by attorneys.
"I can see the pattern and I can see why he gets these arrests, because he's pushing the envelope and taking down people who clearly shouldn't have been taken down for DUI," said attorney Christopher Smith.
Attorney Brandon Brown also represents two drivers arrested by Trooper Bradley.
"It appears that there have been a... number of motorists who have been arrested and charged with driving under the influence where either the case was dismissed or there's a finding of not guilty," Brown said.
After filing multiple public record requests, the Illinois State Police did not release the names of drivers arrested by Bradley, and by email, a spokesperson said the agency doesn't track the outcomes of its troopers' arrests.
The Cook County State's Attorney's Office also told the I-Team it does not track conviction rates of cases stemming from arrests by specific officers or troopers.
To uncover these numbers, the I-Team turned to court records, requesting special permission from the Cook County Chief Judge's Office for access to the clerk of court's data listing Trooper Bradley as the arresting officer on every prosecution since 2023.
The Chief Judge's Office granted the I-Team's request, and the clerk of court released the data last month.
After reviewing more than 300 DUI prosecutions listing Trooper Bradley as the arresting officer since 2023, the I-Team found 174 drivers were found not guilty at trial, or their cases were dismissed before adjudication, like in Ian Renfro's case.
According to court records, 105 drivers were found guilty, with 96 of those drivers accepting plea deals for lesser charges. As of last month, 40 cases are still pending.
Attorney Smith said he believes the court system is designed to force drivers accused of DUI to accept guilt, even when they say they are innocent.
"They hold over you that very serious crime that ruins your history until they least get you for something," Smith explained. "That happens routinely, and only a few brave people are willing to, to fight beyond that reduction."
In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Illinois State Police said, in part, "A trooper makes an arrest when there is probable cause... Ultimately, it is up to the prosecutor to determine whether they can meet the threshold of proof beyond a reasonable doubt."
The ISP added that Trooper Bradley is currently on medical leave after suffering injuries from a work-related accident last summer.
The I-Team found three drivers have filed lawsuits against the trooper and Illinois State Police over "false DUI charges."
In two of the lawsuits, Bradley and the state have denied allegations of wrongdoing.
In one of those cases, a driver told the I-Team after his arrest by Trooper Bradley, he noticed his laptop was missing.
"I wanted to investigate where my items were," driver Sherard Holland told the I-Team. "And I decided to ping my MacBook."
What happened next was captured in 911 call recordings, a cell phone video, and an internal investigation by the Illinois State Police obtained by the I-Team.
That part of the I-Team's investigation will air Thursday, May 7, at 10 p.m.
