ICE Agent Pleads Guilty to Battery Charge
On Wednesday, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent admitted guilt to a misdemeanor battery charge. The incident involved the agent, Adam Saracco, 41, who threw a protester to the ground while the protester filmed him on a phone. Saracco made the plea in a Maywood court and received a sentence of one year of supervision.
A police body camera image shows Adam Saracco talking with Brookfield police officers before facing a misdemeanor charge for the alleged battery. The incident occurred on December 27, 2025, as Saracco, then off duty, pumped gas. The alleged victim claimed he was thrown to the ground during the exchange.
Saracco appears to be the first, and currently the only, immigration agent in Cook County charged during Operation Midway Blitz. At a brief court hearing, he declined to offer a statement. Community members and advocates have urged Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke to charge agents accused of misconduct during recent immigration enforcement actions. Burke responded that her office can only file charges for on-duty incidents under specific conditions.
Recently, ten people, including Marimar Martinez, who was shot by a Border Patrol agent last year, filed police reports seeking local investigations. In Saracco’s case, charges followed a police call to a gas station concerning his confrontation with Robert Held, a local attorney and frequent protester.
Held accused Saracco of throwing him to the ground at a gas station after pursuing Saracco from a facility. Police reports documented Saracco’s objection to being filmed. He remarked, “I don’t want anybody sticking their camera in my face.” At the scene, officers interviewed Saracco, Held, and other witnesses.
One witness described seeing an older man tackled to the ground and responded by honking her horn. Officers initially pursued a felony charge, but the case was directed to misdemeanor court by the state’s attorney’s office. Held called for an upgrade of the charge, but the prosecutor’s office stated they must prove every element of an alleged crime consistently.