Trial opens in fight between cop, Waukegan police chief

Artis Yancey testified Tuesday that the first time Carl Sain hit him, the blow knocked his left eye partially out of its socket.

Yancey, the Waukegan police chief, said he was attacked by Sain, an off-duty North Chicago police officer, when Sain found Yancey inside the Waukegan house of the woman who was in the process of divorcing Sain.

Sain, 46, is on trial for aggravated battery in the courtroom of Lake County Circuit Judge Fred Foreman, and faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

On Tuesday, the first day of testimony in the case, Yancey said he was visiting Cheryl Sain, a woman he met almost 20 years ago when investigating a crime at her business, on June 17 of last year.

Carl Sain, who had moved out of the house in April, burst into the house, and Yancey ordered Cheryl Sain to leave the house and call police, Yancey said.

Armed with a pistol, Carl Sain came into the bedroom where Yancey said he was trying to repair a light fixture, Yancey said.

"It was inches from my forehead and I could see it was a black automatic," Yancey said. "I really believed I was going to be shot or that there would be some gunplay."

Sain threw him to the ground, Yancey said, and hit him in the face four times in rapid succession.

"They were extremely forceful blows and I thought I was going to lose consciousness," Yancey said. "At that point, I honestly felt I was in a fight for my life."

Yancey said he was able to get out from underneath Sain when Sain dropped the pistol and jumped to get it back.

He said he was able to get Sain to calm down and eventually led him outside to where Waukegan police officers had surrounded the house.

Yancey suffered multiple broken bones in his face that required surgery to repair, and Sain was placed on administrative leave from his position shortly after his arrest.

In his opening statement, defense attorney Charvis Walker told the jury that Sain and Yancey did get into a fight but that his client never took the pistol he was carrying out of the waistband of his pants.

Earlier in the day, Cheryl Sain testified that her husband had the weapon in his hand when he ran past her on the stairs on the way to his confrontation with Yancey.

Testimony in the case is expected to continue today.