CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) - A former Champaign police officer has been sentenced to probation after he admitted to breaking into cars in his hometown.
Justus Clinton, 45, said he was under the influence when he broke into about ten vehicles in May 2018.
Clinton entered a guilty plea Thursday on one count of burglary to a motor vehicle without causing damage, the News Gazette reports. He was given one year probation as part of a plea agreement.
Clinton will also have to pay $1,560 in restitution to two victims and return any items deputies found in his house that came from the break-ins.
Clinton was caught on surveillance video from a home shining a flashlight into vehicles and trying to open car doors.
When deputies searched his home, they found knives, cash, phone charging cords, and credit cards belonging to the victims.
Clinton will also have to do 30 hours of public service, get substance-abuse and mental-health evaluations and follow recommended treatments.
His attorney said he has already been getting substance-abuse treatment.
Clinton was with the Champaign Police Department for 14 years.
The News Gazette reports Clinton had struggled with substance-abuse in the past while he was with the police department and even came to work under the influence in 2017 and 2018. The city had offered to get him help so he could keep his job.
His attorney said he has PTSD from a time when he narrowly avoided being shot in the head.
