1 Cited in Confrontation Between Park Board Members

MOKENA, IL - A bizarre confrontation between two members of the Mokena Park Board resulted in a disorderly conduct citation for one official.

A traffic altercation on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 15 began at La Grange and Willow in Mokena and ended in the April Lane driveway of Mokena Park District commissioner Dennis Bagdon, who is listed in a police report as the victim of a disorderly conduct citation made against Mike Bartos, the president of the board.

While both parties agree an altercation began at La Grange and Willow, they differ on how it began. Bagdon told police that he was followed by Bartos at that location and that Bartos was “tailgating” him and trying to cut him off until they reached Bagdon’s driveway, where Bartos angrily confronted him. Bartos said it was Bagdon who swerved his vehicle toward his while giving him the finger at La Grange and Willow.

Bartos admitted to following Bagdon home at that point and coming out of his car “very angry yelling at him.”

“All of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I see a blue truck speeding at me,” Bartos told Mokena Patch in an email. “I cover up and he (Bagdon) swerves away at the last second and gives me the middle finger with each hand. I turn my vehicle around and follow him the couple blocks to his home. He parks in his driveway rolls up his windows and locks his doors… I approach his window and he is yelling at me to come in his truck and do something and I'm yelling at him why he just tried to hurt me.”

Police said a surveillance video obtained from Bagdon’s property “clearly shows Bartos approach Bagdon in an aggressive manner in the residence driveway” swearing and accusing Badon of flipping him off at the light and trying to drive into his vehicle. The video also shows “Oh listen to you Bartos” is what Bagdon replied, while calling Bartos a “lying sack of (expletive).”

Bartos claims the incident is the result of a set-up on the part of Bagdon, who has endorsed an opponent of Bartos in the upcoming park board election.

“I use to be a neighbor of his in the neighborhood he lives in,” Bartos said. “I was there putting up campaign signs around noon one day and I believe he was watching me” before the confrontation on March 15.

Bartos also claimed Bagdon only had video surveillance installed just prior to the incident and that he was told by police that either both he and Bagdon would be charged with disorderly conduct or nothing would be filed.

The police report shows Bartos was issued a local ordinance citation for disorderly conduct. The compliant is punishable by a $50 fine, which Bartos can appeal.

Bagdon, the report said, was “visibly shaken by the incident” and opted to pursue charges.

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story that indicated an arrest was made in this incident was incorrect.

Patch file photo