Former Algonquin sergeant gets probation for domestic battery

WOODSTOCK - An Algonquin police sergeant who resigned last week after being convicted of domestic battery was sentenced to a year of non-reporting probation Thursday morning.

Wade Merritt, 46, also must pay a $150 fine and complete any counseling recommended after an anger evaluation. Judge Gordon Graham applauded Merritt for not drinking since the March 4 incident, in which authorities said he hit his wife in the head so hard that she fell to the floor.

“If you’ve taken any classes, you know that’s the first of many steps,” Graham said, of Merritt’s recent sobriety.

Prosecutors requested jail time because Merritt was drunk during the incident, because his wife had indicated to a 9-1-1 operator that he had hit her before and because the incident happened in front of Merritt’s ill 10-year-old son. Assistant State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally said prosecutors did not treat the case differently because of Merritt’s profession.

“The State takes a hard line on domestic violence no matter who the defendant is or what his occupation is,” Kenneally said.

Merritt is eligible to receive his pension despite resigning from the Algonquin police department the same day police commissioners had scheduled a termination hearing, his attorney Bill Hellyer said. Merritt had been on the force for 23 years.

During the trial last month, Merritt’s son testified that he saw his father raise his hand and saw his stepmother lying on the hallway floor soon thereafter. He said his view of any impact was obstructed from where he was – kneeling in the bathroom with the door open. The boy had been vomiting that evening.

But both Merritt and his wife of seven years denied that he hit her. Rather, Merritt’s wife testified that she wasn’t thinking clearly after having had a few drinks and not taking anti-anxiety medication for five days. She said she called police that night in anger because she thought Merritt had been drinking behind her back.

“I was sick and tired of putting up with this drinking,” she testified.

At Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Merritt said he had apologized to his wife and had been going to counseling.

“I knew I had problems,” Merritt said. “I’ve been working on those problems. [My wife] and I have been working on our problems.”