Bankrupt Country Club Hills police chief part of several failed ventures

• Reprints

Country Club Hills Police Chief Regina Evans. | Tom Cruze~Sun-Times Media

Article Extras

Maps

Updated: October 27, 2011 12:30AM

The police chief of Country Club Hills, who with her husband earns more than $200,000 courtesy of city taxpayers, apparently is broke.

Thanks to a series of failed business decisions from theaters they ran on Chicago’s South Side and in south suburban Dolton, Regina Evans and her husband, Ronald Evans, the inspector general of the city of 16,000, have declared personal bankruptcy.

By the time Regina Evans, a retired Chicago police lieutenant, was hired in 2009 by Mayor Dwight Welch, she already was deeply in debt. By the time her husband, also a former Chicago cop, joined her on the public payroll in 2010 in a job that tasks him with investigating her and at least one other relative working for the city, the couple had filed for bankruptcy reorganization of their business, The Prime Time Group.

In filings from March, they said owe $4.5 million. They claimed assets of a checking account with $400.

The Evanses had walked away from commercial leases, loans, credit card bills and big mortgages, and faced lawsuits against themselves,their companies and a not-for-profit foundation Regina Evans founded called “We Are Our Brother’s Keeper.” They faced foreclosure on several properties.

Then they literally didn’t show up for numerous lawsuit hearings, resulting in hefty judgments against them. And one of their own attorneys dropped them, telling a Cook County judge he couldn’t get them to answer his correspondence in the case.

Evans did not return multiple phone messages for comment.

Before her hiring as police chief was finalized, department officials conducted a background check on her.

The deputy commander in March 2009 sent to Welch a memo, obtained by Sun-Times Media, saying the search’s results advised against the hire.

Welch denied ever seeing the memo. He called its author disgruntled. And he said he doesn’t bother with his employees’ personal business.

“She’s done a wonderful job and I feel bad she’s had some personal issues,” he said.

Former Deputy Cmdr. David Palmer wrote in March 2009 that information omitted on Evans’ application pertaining to her businesses and debt sent up red flags.

“If you take time to read the investigative reports, it should become obvious that the information in question in the application was deliberately misleading,” he wrote. “Based on the above, I believe if she was to be hired, there will be a very embarrassing moment in the future for the city of Country Club Hills.”

Regal Theater problems

After retiring from the Chicago Police Department, the Evanses decided to restore and run the historic New Regal Theater on 79th Street in Chicago, buying it in 2008 for $2.36 million with the help of $1.9 million in city loan forgiveness. Their company, the Prime Time Group, also received a $200,000 loan from CEDA of Cook County.

CEDA attorney Joel Handler said the couple didn’t pay the loan back or hire any of the people the money was supposed to pay for. And Prime Time got its check up front, then failed to turn in more documents as promised, he said.

“Before she was supposed to get the money, she was supposed to present certain invoices,” he said.

Handler, who’s trying to free his case from the bankruptcy, told a federal judge Evans and Prime Time never intended to repay the money.

“At the time that Evans entered into the loan agreement, she had no intention of repaying CEDA the entire loan balance,” he said in filings.

Later in 2008, Evans hired a consultant to write grants for the Regal operation on behalf of her foundation. She wanted to start a pre-apprentice program, build a parking garage for the theater, and start a boot camp in the south suburbs.

Consultant James Battieste sued her for not paying him $170,000, though he believed he was successful in getting her some of the grant money. He believed two of her grants had been funded, one through the state Department of Economic Opportunity, though the agency couldn’t confirm that Friday.

“Supposedly what should have been possibly an easy business relationship didn’t work out,” he said. “When it came down for pay, she wasn’t able to be found. She had other obligations that were probably pending before me.”

Failed venture in Dolton

Meanwhile, in 2007, the Evans started Premier Entertainment Center, LLC, planning to replace the Jo River Center in Dolton with a nightclub of their own. Jo River had closed in July 2007, in a shambles, after hosting some big-name acts such as Ludacris and R. Kelly, according to a lawsuit filed against its operators.

The Evans rented the space at 300 W. Sibley Blvd., and opened the doors for shows in November 2007. Premier booked big acts such as rapper Lil Wayne and BET comedy show performers, and local events such as step performances and firefighter reunion parties.

But Dolton police records show a glut of calls to the center. Fights broke out. And according to one lawsuit against the center, a Wisconsin woman attending a show in July 2008 said she was hurt during a concert.

“During the event the scene at the Premier Entertainment Center became chaotic, with fights breaking out and individuals robbing members of the audience,” according to the suit.

While applying for her new police job, Regina Evans walked away from the 300 W. Sibley lease. Her last valid rent check cleared in December 2008, court filings show. She left a tax bill, too, according to the resulting lawsuit. Its judgement accounts for more than $1.75 million of her debt; it was entered against her after she didn’t show up in court or respond in any way to her summons.

Evans became the first black female police chief in the south suburbs.

She was young, Alderman Vincent Lockett said, for someone who had retired from Chicago police as a lieutenant. She seemed like a go-getter.

“You must have some type of skills,” he said.

Welch wanted her to replace his retiring chief. Evans came with excellent recommendations, the mayor said, from Chicago and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. Her transportation company had done good work for the Country Club Hills amphitheater, transporting entertainers.

“That’s how we know her,” Welch said. “She would drive the stars around.”

Prime Time was paid $254,385 from Aug. 2, 2006 until Aug. 23, 2008 for its work for the city, according to invoices obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

But when Premier collapsed, Ronald Evans was out of a job and surrounded by lawsuits.

His wife’s boss swooped in with an offer: $89,000 a year to be city inspector general, with the power and mandate to investigate allegations against his own wife and against his brother-in-law, who’s a recent addition to the city payroll. His wife at that time was pulling in a base salary of $115,000.

She now makes$123,821. He got a big raise, too, to $109,281, according to the city.

Lockett said he and other aldermen who approved her hire didn’t know about her financial history. They never saw any background report.

Welch “comes with recommendations ‘She’s well qualified, a retired lieutenant out of Chicago, lots of police background,’ and that’s pretty much it,” he said.

“I hate now that we didn’t get a chance now to review any background or anything on her.”