MARKHAM, Ill. (STMW) - A candidate for the Rich Township High School District 227 Board was being held at the Markham courthouse Friday evening after his arrest for missing a court hearing earlier in the week, a Cook County Sheriff’s department spokesman said.

Bail was set at $26,000 for Komaa Mnyofu, 53, of the 3900 block of Tower Dr. in Richton Park. Matteson police arrested him Thursday night after he was spotted at a gas station in Olympia Fields.

Cook County Circuit Judge Christopher J. Donnelly issued the arrest warrant Wednesday after Mnyofu missed his hearing at the Markham courthouse on a disorderly conduct charge, according to court records.

A spokesman for the state’s attorney’s office said Mnyofu was in court for the hearing but left and never returned.

Mnyofu was charged with disorderly conduct after a Dec. 5, 2010, incident at Lincoln Mall in Matteson, where he was collecting signatures to get his name on the District 227 board ballot.

Police said they were called to the scene when Mnyofu and a 50-year-old Olympia Fields man refused to leave the mall after being told the mall’s policy prohibited them from passing out campaign literature.

Mall property is not considered a public way, and soliciting and loitering are not permitted, police said.

When confronted by mall security, Mnyofu grew angry and began shouting obscenities, police said. Mnyofu also made inappropriate comments about a police officer’s mother, police said.

The disturbance prompted a mother and her family to leave part of the mall, so Mnyofu and the other man were removed.

Mnyofu is due Wednesday in court in Markham on the disorderly conduct charge.

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