‘I was in fear for my life’: Reports, video tell story of Rolling Meadows sergeant’s road rage arrest in Elgin

Minutes after the road-rage altercation that left him behind bars and on unpaid leave, Rolling Meadows police Sgt. Carlos Saez told investigating officers he was defending himself from a “gang member” trying to disarm him.

“He was overpowering me, and I was in fear for my life,” Saez said.

Some eyewitness reports and surveillance video that captured the brawl in the middle of a busy Elgin road paint a different picture, one of two men engaging in a fistfight … until one used a gun.

That’s what we found combing through 119 pages of police reports, along with multiple videos, Daily Herald colleague Christopher Placek obtained from the Elgin Police Department through the Freedom of Information Act.

To catch you up, Saez, 58, is charged with three felonies stemming from the April 23 fracas along Dundee Avenue — Route 25 — in Elgin.

He’s accused of pistol-whipping the other man during the confrontation, leaving him bloodied from a cut to the temple, and firing a gunshot near his head.

After his arrest, the 19-year Rolling Meadows police veteran was placed on unpaid administrative leave by the department. He’s also out of custody, pending a scheduled appearance in Kane County court on June 12.

Documents acquired by the Daily Herald include the reports of more than 20 Elgin police officers who responded to the scene, collected evidence or spoke with witnesses. We also reviewed police officer bodycam footage, cellphone video shot by witnesses and surveillance video from a nearby business.

How it began

As is usually the case, this road rage incident began with a couple of motorists unhappy with how the other was driving.

According to statements from both men, the confrontation started at the intersection of Route 25 and the I-90 off ramp, on Elgin’s east side. They traded hard stares and exchanged words while heading south on Route 25 for a half-mile. Then the second man pulled his Infiniti G20 sedan in front of Saez’s Ford Explorer and hit the brakes, forcing Saez to stop behind him.

Surveillance video from a nearby gas station shows the second man get out of his car and approach Saez’s SUV.

“He blocked me and jumped out of the car,” Saez later told Elgin cops. “I get my gun out. I flash it to him. Tell him to (expletive) go back to the car. He’s talking (expletive). Then he kicked my door.”

After the kick, video shows the man walking back toward his car. Saez got out and followed him, gun in hand. They’re fighting moments later.

Struggle, then a shot

As cars passed by and bystanders looked on, the two men battled in the middle of Route 25 for more than five minutes. The fight was more wrestling than boxing.

Eyewitnesses offered differing accounts of what happened next. One, watching from a restaurant across the street, said she saw the Infiniti driver gaining the upper hand on Saez, leading the latter to pull up his gun and fire a shot.

But another told police the two men were struggling for the gun when it discharged. And a third told police he saw Saez initiate the physical confrontation by pistol-whipping the other man, and then later fired a shot into the ground.

Saez admitted striking the man with his handgun.

“He was gonna overpower me, so I hit him upside the head to stop him,” he told officers, according to the reports. But he denied firing the weapon.

“He shot it. He was trying to disarm me and he pulled the trigger,” Saez said.

The other man, who is not charged, copped to trying to disarm Saez. He told investigators he wanted to stop Saez from pummeling him with the gun and “to save (my) life.”

“(He) stated he was not trying to hurt (Saez) because he said he was a police officer,” a report states. “(He) described the gun going off in front of his face and the bullet going past his head.”

After the gunshot, witnesses said, the second man stopped fighting and Saez pinned him up against the Infiniti until police arrived.

Next steps

Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser took a personal interest in the case, traveling to the Elgin police station that night to review the evidence, reports indicate.

The next day, she contacted Elgin police detectives with her decision: Saez would be charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery in a public place and reckless discharge of a firearm.

Saez was booked at the Elgin PD and held in custody until a court appearance April 25, when a judge ordered him released while awaiting trial.

The veteran law enforcement officer now faces a maximum five years in prison if convicted of aggravated battery, though probation would seem more likely. But more than his freedom is at stake — under state law, a police officer convicted of a felony is automatically decertified, and therefore unable to work in law enforcement.

We reached out to his attorney, but didn’t hear back in time for deadline. However, a remark Saez made at the scene, after hearing Elgin police refer to the other man as the “victim,” may lend a clue to his defense strategy.

“He’s not the victim,” Saez said. “I’m the victim.”

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