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Will Peterson's Son Keep Police Job?

OAK BROOK, Ill. (WBBM/CBS) -- The police officer son of Drew Peterson should learn tonight if he will remain on the Oak Brook Police Department.

As WBBM Newsradio 780's Bob Roberts reports, Stephen Peterson claims he has been singled out because of his father's notoriety. He has been on administrative leave since August.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780's Bob Roberts reports

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Stephen Peterson's problems began when he appeared before a Will County grand jury in his father's case in uniform, and drove an Oak Brook police vehicle to Joliet.

The most serious charge is that he impeded the investigation of his father, and illegally kept a sawed-off AR-15 that his father used in squad duties.

"I never intended to keep the rifle. I was simply holding onto it in my house for my father," Stephen Peterson said. "I briefly looked at it. I had no idea it was an illegal weapon. I would never believe my father would hand me an illegal weapon."

But police chief Thomas Sheahan has been trying to have Stephen Peterson fired for keeping that and guns belonging to his father, so that enforcement would not find them during the Stacy Peterson investigation in 2007.

He is also accused of breaking a departmental rule by merely disclosing that he had been placed on leave.

Documents submitted to the Board of Fire and Police commissioners show Stephen Peterson has had a history of disciplinary issues as a police officer, including allegedly running police data checks on village employee vehicles.

Stacy Peterson, Drew Peterson's fourth wife, disappeared on Oct. 29, 2007. She has never been found.

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