An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent confessed to a battery charge after an incident involving a protester. Adam Saracco, 41, acknowledged his misdemeanor in a Maywood court on Wednesday. He was sentenced to one year of supervision.
A body camera image shows Saracco discussing with Brookfield police before being charged. The charge arose from an event where Saracco allegedly threw a man filming him to the ground while the agent was at a gas station on December 27, 2025. The protester claimed Saracco pushed him during the encounter.
Saracco’s case stands as a unique example of an immigration agent facing charges in Cook County linked to behavior towards protesters in Operation Midway Blitz. Saracco was off duty at the time.
During the brief hearing, Saracco was present but chose not to speak. Community members have urged Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke to pursue charges against agents tied to aggressive operations last fall. Burke stated that her office only files charges for specific on-duty incidents and only after law enforcement referrals.
Recently, 10 individuals, including Marimar Martinez, filed police reports seeking local investigations. Martinez was injured in a separate incident last year involving a Border Patrol agent. In Saracco’s situation, the Brookfield Police were called when Saracco clashed with Robert Held, a local attorney and frequent protester at an ICE center in Broadview. Held alleged that Saracco threw him down after following him from the processing center.
“I don’t want anybody sticking their camera in my face. I don’t know what he’s trying to do with this,”
Saracco said at the scene as per police footage. He attempted to seize Held’s phone. Officers engaged with Saracco, Held, and witnesses.
“He got very angry that I was filming him. He ran up to me and grabbed me and threw me on the ground … and he tried to grab the phone out of me,” Held told an officer. A witness reported “seeing an old man tackled,” adding, “I started beeping my horn … and I said get off him!”
Brookfield police initially pursued a felony charge, but the state’s attorney’s office determined a misdemeanor court was more suitable. Held urged for charge upgrades, to which the office replied by emphasizing consistent evidence evaluation standards.