URBANA — Five years after receiving the most prestigious award available on campus, a longtime University of Illinois police officer has resigned, citing a “hostile work environment.”

It is unknown whether Lt. James Carter’s resignation is related to disciplinary action against him following an incident in the closing minutes of the Illini football team’s win over Michigan last October that led to court summons for former linebacking great Dana Howard.

In a brief letter to UI police Chief Matt Ballinger, obtained by The News-Gazette via open-records request, Carter said the decision had not come easily, but it was “necessary due to ongoing challenges related to the hostile work environment, a consistent lack of effective leadership, the department’s inability and unwillingness to resolve conflicts, and the resulting toll on my mental and physical health.

“These issues have made it impossible for me to carry out my duties in a healthy and sustainable manner,” Carter wrote.

The News-Gazette was unable to reach Carter for comment despite multiple attempts.

UI police spokeswoman Abbigail Kepp said the department does not comment on personnel matters.

Carter, whose last day of employment was June 6, had been a member of department since 2011.

He is well-known for his role in the investigation into the murder of Yingying Zhang, a visiting Chinese scholar who went missing in 2017. Brendt Christensen was found guilty of kidnapping Ms. Zhang while she waited at a bus stop in Urbana, taking her back to his apartment and brutally killing her.

Investigators found footage of Ms. Zhang entering a black Saturn Astra just before she went missing and believed that one of the 18 cars of that model in Champaign County must have belonged to her kidnapper.

The license plate in the footage was not readable, and interviews with the vehicle owners were inconclusive; Carter was the first to notice the vehicle’s right front hubcap had been damaged.

In 2019, he told The News-Gazette that it had just been a small detail in his mind until Detective Eric Stiverson texted him that evening “something like, ‘Dude, you solved the case.’”

Matching damage was located on Christensen’s car, leading Stiverson and FBI special agent Anthony Manganaro to interview him that same night.

The investigation ultimately resulted in Christensen’s being sentenced to life in prison.

In 2020, Carter, Stiverson and telecommunicator Kenny Costa were awarded the Chancellor’s Medallion for their work on the case. The medallion is the highest honor the UI’s Urbana-Champaign campus bestows, and has only been awarded 10 times since it was established in 1996.

Five years later, on Oct. 19 of last year, the Illini beat Michigan 21-7 and thousands of fans rushed the Memorial Stadium field to celebrate.

Kepp said that at 6 p.m., just as the game was about to wrap up, a spectator crossed the wall separating the seating area from the field after an officer instructed everyone in the area not to enter the field when the game ended.

“When the officer attempted to stop the spectator from entering the field area, Howard, who was nearby, reportedly initiated physical contact with the officer,” Kepp said.

Other officers in the vicinity assisted as more spectators “became involved,” Kepp said, and one officer sustained minor injuries that didn’t require medical treatment.

Carter’s exact involvement in the postgame incident is unclear, but he was suspended by the department in relation to the event.

Eight months later, he sent his resignation letter to the department.

Other documents obtained by The News-Gazette show that Ballinger accepted the resignation four days later.

On June 6, Carter’s last day, Ballinger notified all employees of the Division of Public Safety: “We sincerely thank James for his many years of dedicated service and wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”