Marisa Ciccola
Introduction
Marisa Ciccola, 30, a former Itasca, Illinois police officer, was indicted on September 29, 2026 by a DuPage County grand jury on twenty-one counts — thirteen counts of official misconduct, each a Class 3 felony, and eight counts of computer tampering — for allegedly making unauthorized searches of Illinois license plates while on duty. According to DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin, Ciccola used the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS) and the Flock automated license plate recognition system for inquiries that had no lawful purpose. She turned herself in on October 5, 2026, one day after arrest warrants issued, and was released on her own recognizance.
Background Information
Ciccola served as a police officer with the Itasca Police Department, a suburban Chicago agency in DuPage County, and was a public employee acting in her official capacity during the alleged conduct, which the indictment places between June 2025 and May 2026. Her indictment was announced alongside charges against Gerardo Solis, 39, a former West Chicago police officer indicted the same day on one count of official misconduct and one count of computer tampering for a single unauthorized Flock inquiry into an Illinois license plate between December 18, 2024 and January 15, 2025. The two cases are separate investigations announced together by State’s Attorney Berlin, Itasca Police Chief Robert O’Connor, and West Chicago Police Chief Colin Fleury.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Charged, not convicted. Ciccola faces a 21-count indictment; the charges are accusations, she has not been tried, and she is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The indictment alleges that on multiple occasions between June 2025 and May 2026, Ciccola, “a public employee of the Itasca Police Department, while acting in her official capacity,” made unauthorized, forbidden inquiries into Illinois license plates using LEADS and the Flock automated license plate recognition system. Neither the indictment nor the announcement identifies the people whose plates she searched or states a motive. The pattern of searches — sustained across eleven months and numerous queries — is what prosecutors charged as repeated official misconduct rather than a single lapse.
Following the September 29 indictments, Judge Brian Telander issued arrest warrants for both Ciccola and Solis. Both defendants turned themselves in on October 5, 2026, and both were released on their own recognizance. Ciccola’s case is assigned to Judge Telander; Solis’s case is assigned to Judge Mia McPherson.
Public Reaction and Consequences
“It is extremely troubling when someone entrusted with upholding the law is accused of breaking it,” Berlin said in the announcement, stressing that the charges against the two former officers “are not indicative of the honest, hardworking, professional men and women” of the Itasca and West Chicago departments. The announcement did not say when either officer left their department, but both are described as former officers. Ciccola’s twenty-one counts are the heavier load by far — thirteen felonies where Solis faces one.
The case joins a nationwide string of 2026 prosecutions of police employees for misusing automated license plate readers and law-enforcement databases — Flock systems, LEADS, and NCIC — in which officers have been charged from suburban Chicago to Indiana, Ohio, Georgia, and Virginia for looking up vehicles connected to romantic interests, exes, or personal acquaintances.
Current Status
Ciccola has been indicted, has turned herself in, and is released on her own recognizance; her next court appearance is scheduled for November 16, 2026, before Judge Telander. The thirteen official misconduct counts are Class 3 felonies, each carrying a potential multi-year prison sentence; the eight computer tampering counts are Class B misdemeanors. The charges remain pending, and no plea or public statement from Ciccola appears in the coverage.
Impact on Their Career/Life
A police career that survives a thirteen-count felony indictment for database misuse does not exist: Ciccola is already out of the Itasca department, and any future law-enforcement certification is effectively foreclosed by the charges themselves. The case is also another data point in the collapse of the assumption that plate-reader and LEADS queries are invisible — audits of officer searches have become routine, and the audits keep producing felony charges like hers.
Sources
- DuPage County State’s Attorney, “Former Itasca and West Chicago Police Officers Charged with Official Misconduct for Alleged Unauthorized Use of Flock Cameras,” October 5, 2026 — source