Dupage Policy Journal

Burr Ridge Chief of Police John Madden said his department has warned the Capri Ristorante “verbally and in writing” of allegedly being in violation of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Nov. 2 order banning indoor dining throughout the state.

Madden said the department responded to the restaurant, allegedly finding it operating in violation of the governor's ban, after receiving a complaint from a village resident that the restaurant had been serving customers indoors. The chief also said that all restaurants in the village will be held to the same standards.

“If violations are reported, BRPD will respond, investigate, document and warn the business owner to comply,” Madden said in response to an email request from the DuPage Policy Journal regarding the governor’s ban. 

“After verbal and written warnings, refusal to comply is documented and forwarded to the County Health Department. The DuPage and Cook County Health Departments (for Burr Ridge) are the enforcement authority," Madden said. 

Despite this protocol in place to address order ban violations, village resident Patricia A. Davis, who alerted the DuPage Policy Journal to the alleged Capri violations, was told by a 911 dispatcher that the police were not enforcing the ban. "Take it up with the Village," Davis was told. 

“I did send a letter to Mayor [Gary] Grasso, the Burr Ridge Village Board, and Burr Ridge Police Chief John Madden telling about the 911 call,” Davis, who has a master's in public health from the University of Michigan, wrote in an email to the DuPage Policy Journal. 

“All I’ve gotten back thus far is an email from Mayor Grasso threatening to pull any police reports made by or about me in Burr Ridge, and that seemed petty, vindictive and bullying. I suppose he doesn’t like residents who criticize him," she said.

Grasso did not respond to a request for comment.

A Patch.com report said that on Nov. 16, the village hand-delivered a letter from Grasso to Capri’s Filippo “Gigi” Rovito warning that he restaurant was in violation of the village’s rules for indoor dining. Rovito was a donor to Grasso’s unsuccessful 2017 campaign for attorney general, the report said. 

"There is a report that your hostess and you were not wearing masks Saturday at Capri,” the letter said, as reported by Patch.com.  “If true, that is unacceptable. This is a warning. You and every member of your staff MUST wear a mask at all times," the Patch.com report said.

But Davis sent the DuPage Policy Journal a photo taken Dec. 4 of the inside of the Capri showing a packed restaurant, with no one wearing a mask.

In an earlier Patch.com story, Grasso said, “...the village is not in a position to close restaurants offering indoor dining.”

"We're having officers going to restaurants to make sure tables are separated and make sure all employees are wearing masks. We're making sure they are keeping windows open and air circulating," the mayor said, as reported by Patch.com.

Officials in some other Illinois communities are likewise refusing to enforce the governor’s ban, leaving residents confused whether indoor dining is permitted.  

CBS Chicago reported that McHenry County restaurants found to be in violation of the governor’s order face “no risk of criminal charges.”

“The state’s attorney in McHenry County feels the governor has overstepped and the legislature has underdelivered, creating what he calls a ‘dangerous combination,’” the CBS Chicago report said. “He won’t be enforcing the ban.”

Contrary to the disregard of some counties regarding the governor's ban, St. Clair County health officials in St. Clair County in southern Illinois are pulling the food licenses of restaurants that disobey the order.

A spokesperson for the health departments of Cook and DuPage counties did not respond to a request for comment about the alleged Capri violations.