Jerome officer charged with two felonies

Former Jerome police officer Steven Stirmell has been charged with official
misconduct and obstruction of justice for allegedly filing at least one false report in
a drunken driving case involving Kathleen Vehovic, the daughter of Todd Renfrow,
former chairman of the Sangamon County Democratic Party.

Stirmell, who is the son of Jerome Mayor Harry Stirmell, was laid off last month in a
personnel move made before the Sangamon County state’s attorney’s office and the
state attorney general’s office launched a criminal investigation this spring. Since he
came under suspicion, Steven Stirmell had refused to testify in at least two drunken
driving cases, including a case in which he arrested Vehovic in March.

Vehovic’s DUI case is pending, but she prevailed in a May hearing held to determine
whether her driver’s license should be suspended because she failed a breath
test. According to charging papers, Stirmell more than two weeks after the arrest
submitted a report to the state’s attorney’s office, saying that Vehovic, identified by
her initials in the criminal complaint, had put a Listerine tablet in her mouth prior to
the breath test.

“We believe it (the report) was false, we believe he knew it was false when he
submitted it,” said Sangamon County state’s attorney John Milhiser.

Dan Fultz, who is representing Steven Stirmell, could not be reached for comment.

Contact Bruce Rushton at [email protected].