An Aurora man has been indicted on federal charges for allegedly assaulting law enforcement officers attempting to arrest him in Kane County, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
According to court documents, Francisco Javier Acevedo-Caldera, 39, allegedly kicked one federal officer, headbutted another and bit a Kane County Sheriff’s deputy.
A criminal complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, stated that two Enforcement and Removal Officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were waiting inside the Kane County Sheriff’s Office lobby in St. Charles on the afternoon of July 17 and approached Acevedo-Caldera, positively identifying him via booking photos.
Acevedo-Caldera was being released from the Kane County jail, according to Sheriff Ron Hain. Per Kane County court records, he was being released pretrial with special conditions and supervision for several traffic-related charges – driving on a suspended license, speeding and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.
According to the complaint, the federal officers approached Acevedo-Caldera, and one of them identified himself as an immigration officer and told Acevedo-Caldera that he had a warrant for his arrest.
Acevedo-Caldera allegedly began shouting profanities and threatened to knock out one of the officers, per the complaint. A Kane County Sheriff’s officer approached Acevedo-Caldera, took his phone and took him to the ground, with the federal officers assisting and placing him in handcuffs.
During the struggle, Acevedo-Caldera allegedly bit the Kane County Sheriff’s officer on the hand, according to the complaint. He also reportedly injured one of the ICE officers’ left shoulder, elbow and arm and kicked the officer in the left knee, and headbutted the other ICE officer on his right eye as he was being escorted out of the Kane County Sheriff’s Office, the complaint stated.
There was video footage capturing the incident, per the complaint.
Acevedo-Caldera was indicted this week by a federal grand jury in Chicago, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, on three counts of forcibly assaulting a law enforcement officer. Two of the counts are punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison, the other punishable by up to eight years, officials said.
He remains in federal custody, but an arraignment has not yet been scheduled, the release said.
The Kane County Sheriff’s deputy who was allegedly bitten was transported for medical evaluation and released shortly after, and did not have to take time off, according to Hain.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment via email on Friday.
Hain said that he did not have information about why ICE was waiting for Acevedo-Caldera. He said personnel in the Sheriff’s Office can only intervene in a scene where ICE is involved “if (they) come across a risk to the public like this incident.”
Acevedo-Caldera’s attorney did not immediately return The Beacon-News’ request for comment on Friday.
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
