A witness says masked ICE agents broke a car window and dragged out a man who has pending local felony charges, leaving a passenger injured, outside the McHenry County Courthouse in Woodstock Wednesday.
The incident happened around 10:45 a.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of the Michael J. Sullivan Judicial Center, 2200 North Seminary Avenue in Woodstock.
Criminal defense attorney Kellie Kleitsch, who works for Donahue & Kililis, told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that she and a colleague were leaving the courthouse and walking to their cars in the front parking lot.
Kleitsch heard a commotion over her shoulder and turned to see a group of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents clustered around another car in the lot.
“While I couldn’t see anything that definitively identified them as ICE, I could tell that’s who they were based on the masks they wore over their faces and the street clothes beneath their police vests,” she said.
The agents were repeatedly yelling, “Get out of the car!” and Kleitsch said almost immediately she heard the sounds of shattered glass.
“I watched as they pulled a man out of the car they had been targeting and then immediately dispersed. I saw the ICE agents depart in at least three different, unmarked cars – no markings, no municipal plates, nothing to identify them as law enforcement,” she said.
Kleitsch said the whole ordeal lasted less than three minutes. She heard screaming from the car they had been targeting after the agents.
Kleitsch and her colleague approached and checked on the woman who was screaming to see if she was okay.
Glass from the broken driver’s side window was on the ground and the woman had a small cut from the glass on one of her fingers, Kleitsch said.
Her fiancé, Alex Ordonez, 33, of Elgin, had been arrested by the agents. The woman was hysterical and said the agents swarmed their car as soon as they got inside.
The fiancé reported that the agents claimed to have a warrant for Ordonez but refused to show it to them, Kleitsch said.
“I comforted her as best as I could and then brought her back into the courthouse to get a bandage for the cut on her hand,” Kleitsch said, adding that she also recommended getting in contact with Ordonez’s attorney.
Lake and McHenry County Scanner has made multiple attempts to reach the Department of Homeland Security for further information on the incident.
Court records show Ordonez is facing pending charges of possession of stolen or fraudulently obtained checks, a Class 3 felony, and forgery by making or altering a document, a Class 3 felony, in McHenry County.
He was charged in July and court documents allege he forged a blank check belonging to a couple in the amount of $5,300, without the couple’s permission or knowledge, and later cashed it.
Ordonez was attending an arraignment hearing where he pleaded not guilty to the charges just before his arrest on Wednesday.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office said they received an inquiry later in the day on Wednesday about the suspected ICE activity and they were then able to confirm there was “outside law enforcement activity” in the parking lot of the courthouse.
The sheriff’s office said they were not involved, were not informed of the activity in advance and do not have further information on the situation.
“Under the Illinois Trust Act, all Illinois law enforcement is prohibited from assisting, supporting, or participating in the enforcement of federal civil immigration laws,” the office said.
The City of Woodstock and the Woodstock Police Department issued a joint statement following the incident, also referencing the Illinois TRUST Act.
“The Woodstock Police Department does not detain individuals based solely on immigration status. Officers are, however, authorized to enforce state and local laws equally, regardless of a person’s immigration status,” the statement said.
“If residents have concerns about ICE activity, it’s important to understand that local police cannot intervene or participate in those actions,” Woodstock Police Chief John Lieb said.
“Anyone who believes they or a loved one has been unlawfully detained or treated by ICE should contact a qualified immigration attorney,” Lieb said.
Lieb added that the Woodstock Police Department follows “all applicable laws and operates under key state legislation designed to protect residents’ rights.”
“WPD follows all laws, and as it pertains to this issue, we operate within the Way Forward Act, TRUST Act, and VOICES Act,” the police chief said.
Lieb said he encourages residents to be cautious when seeking legal assistance.
“Unfortunately, there are individuals who misrepresent themselves as immigration experts and may take advantage of people’s fears. Please take the time to confirm that any attorney or legal service is legitimate,” he said.
The City of Woodstock said it has not been involved in any ICE activity and has not received any information or communication from state or federal authorities regarding immigration enforcement actions in the area.
A federal custody tracker did not show Ordonez in custody on either Wednesday or Thursday and it is unclear where he is being held. No federal cases against Ordonez appear in the court system either.
His next scheduled court date in his McHenry County case is set for December 17 for a status hearing on a trial date.