Family Relieved, Worried After Ex-Woodridge-Cop Found in Missouri

Family members hadn't heard from Scott A. Webb, 39, of Romeoville, since May. 

Webb is charged with taking $30,000 from Crawlin' for the Fallen fundraisers, a bar crawl he helped organize to benefit C.O.P.S. (Concerns of Police Survivors). The organization benefits family members of police officers killed in the line of duty. 

 on two counts of theft and was being sought on a $250,000 bail arrest warrant. He went missing. 

Webb was arrested Oct. 18 in Branson, MO, after police received a tip as to his whereabouts. He has agreed to return to Illinois and could be in court this week. 

However, as of 1 p.m. Monday, Webb was still in custody in Missouri. 

ABC7 reported Webb could face additional charges. DuPage County State's Attorney Spokesman Paul Darrah would not comment whether those charges would be filed but said that information would be released at Webb's bond hearing. That hearing could take place as early as Wednesday, Darrah said. 

While his sister, Dawn Ferralez, told ABC7 it was a relief he had been found, she is worried about what's next.

"It was a relief knowing that he was alive and well and that I would now be able to see him again...but he is going to be put in the jail where there's people that he put in there," Ferralez told ABC.

She told ABC in June she had last seen her brother on the day he was supposed to turn himself into police. 

"He was very scared, you could see it all over his face. For a cop to go to jail...especially in the same county where he has put put people away," Ferralez said.

Ferralez has told ABC and the Woodridge Reporter she is confident of her brother's innocence. Her own father was a cop whose partner was killed. That spurred Webb to get involved with fundraising for C.O.P.S., she told ABC7.  

Webb was a 10-year veteran of the . He could face up to seven years in prison if convicted. 

The village learned of "potential wrongdoing" by Webb in August 2010, . He was placed on administrative leave while the village launched an internal investigation and notified the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office. Webb submitted his resignation in March. 

"It is indeed a sad day when any member of the law enforcement community is charged with crimes against organizations that aim to provide aid and comfort to families of heroes who have paid the ultimate sacrifice," according to a village release.

"We are disappointed that families of fallen officers, and our community, have been victimized by alleged wrongdoing.  That’s why we vigorously support efforts to prosecute the former officer for his alleged crimes." 

Concerns of Police Survivors, or C.O.P.S., hosts support meetings and organizes retreats and camps for kids, teens and spouses of those who have died.

C.O.P.S. also sends families to National Police Week in Washington D.C. to see their loved one honored and put on the National Law Enforcement Memorial.  

Darrah said the thefts occurred between June 2007 and August 2010, totaling $30,000. 

"It's never happened before," said Craig Figgins, president of the Illinois chapter of C.O.P.S. "We're very disappointed and sad that it had to come to this." 

Figgins said the organization relies entirely on public support, and $30,000 is significant portion of money donated to C.O.P.S.

According to the C.O.P.S. website, the Woodridge Police Association has donated $47,000 to C.O.P.S. to date. 

"It's just one person, not a whole organization or a department," Figgins said. "We get so much support from law enforcement throughout the state of Illinois. It's very, very disappointing that one person decided to do what he did, allegedly."