Berwyn Refuses To Release Booking Photos Of Arrested Buona Beef Bosses

BERWYN, IL — In a break from precedent and in apparent violation of state law, the City of Berwyn has rejected a request for booking photographs of Joseph and James Buonavolanto from their arrests last week. Berwyn Police Chief Michael Cimaglia, who has not responded to repeated messages seeking information about the incident and arrests, reviewed and rejected a Freedom of Information Act request seeking the photographs, city officials said Tuesday.

The Buonavolantos are accused of battering union members during a video-recorded incident outside of the Berwyn location of their Buona Beef chain of restaurants on Aug. 15.

Under Illinois law, criminal justice agencies are required to furnish arrest reports within 72 hours of an arrest. Such reports much include information detailing charges related to any arrest, the time and place arrests are made, bond information, the names of agencies involved and booking photographs.

The Berwyn Clerk's office issued a blanket denial of Patch's request for the public records Tuesday, inexplicably citing an exemption that protects the release of records that may interfere with ongoing investigations. However, the burden is on the agency to demonstrate with "clear and convincing" evidence how the release of the records would disrupt an investigation, and the mere fact that an investigation is underway has repeatedly been shown to be insufficient to satisfy that burden. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for your Chicagoland community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

The use of this exemption for booking photographs is highly unusual. Patch has so far been unable to find a single example of this exemption being cited to withhold booking photographs in any other jurisdiction covered by the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, and the City of Berwyn has not provided one.

» Read more: Buona Beef Bosses Arrested, Charged With Battery

» UPDATE: 2 days after rejecting Patch's public records request, Berwyn shares mugs of the accused Buona beaters

_{Top photo: An edited image captured from an online video purporting to show Joseph and James Buonavolanto assault protestors outside their Berwyn restaurant | Youtube, Patch}