It was like a scene out of the gritty TV series Sons of Anarchy.
A group of bikers wearing the patches and insignia of a motorcycle club surround an SUV in broad daylight near an intersection as the driver brings his vehicle to a halt.
One of the bikers gets off his Harley and confronts the motorist through the open driver’s side window. He alleges the man’s vehicle had come into contact with his motorcycle — then beats him with fists and a helmet, and threatens him with a knife.
Several other bikers join the fray.
But this wasn’t a television moment. Court and police records show it was all too real, happening in June in normally sleepy Lake in the Hills, a far northwest suburb.
A 61-year-old Fox Lake man, who had been driving a Hyundai SUV, was bruised and battered but not hospitalized. He couldn’t be reached for comment but has described the experience as a “nightmare.”
At least some of the bikers were members or affiliates of the Calaveras Motorcycle Club. They left the scene but were later pulled over in Crystal Lake, and a single arrest was made — of Julio C. Salas, 36, of Sleepy Hollow, according to public records.
Salas, whose jacket identified him as a Calaveras “enforcer,” was charged with a number of crimes, including aggravated battery, unlawful restraint and mob action, the latter because Salas “knowingly and without legal justification participated in a mob action involving approximately 15-20 individuals riding motorcycles,” court records say.
“Acting in concert with the group, the Defendant and other participants surrounded and encircled the victim’s vehicle, thereby forcing the victim to stop. The Defendant then knowingly and intentionally struck the victim in the face multiple times.”
Salas also “displayed a large knife during the altercation,” which occurred near Virginia Road and Route 31, apparently after the bikers and the victim were turning at the intersection, then merging.
Salas told police that the driver had come into contact with his motorcycle, and an officer saw there was a “white horizontal scuff mark” on a saddlebag that may have indicated some contact.
A witness came up on the scene just as the confrontation was underway and said, if the SUV did clip the Harley, “I don’t think he did it intentionally,” but whatever occurred “it didn’t justify” the response by Salas.
“It was very upsetting,” the witness said, adding about the victim: “I was afraid for this man’s life.”
Salas’ lawyers asked the judge to restrict potential testimony that the bikers “belonged to a gang-related organization,” records show.
But before the trial could happen, Salas pleaded guilty to a single felony, aggravated battery, and the rest of the charges were dropped.
McHenry County prosecutors had wanted a minimum of two years in prison, but the judge gave him 180 days in jail. With time already served, he was released from custody. He was also given probation and a fine and ordered to undergo an anger management evaluation, records show.
At the sentencing hearing, held this month, Salas wept and apologized to the victim and, according to the Shaw Local publication, said: “I take full responsibility. I wish I could take my actions back.”
Salas and his attorneys declined to comment.
For Sons of Anarchy fans, Calaveras was a fictional club on the show. But there’s also a real-life biker club by that name rooted in Texas with a presence elsewhere in the United States.
The Texas Department of Public Safety, which includes state troopers and rangers, classifies the Calaveras club “as a criminal gang,” a spokeswoman says. Members have bristled at that characterization and deny being lawbreakers, according to published accounts.
It’s unclear if and how the Illinois chapter is affiliated with that larger organization. Representatives of the club couldn’t be reached for comment.
It’s also unclear whether they consider themselves so-called “outlaw” bikers, characterized by a defiance of societal norms.
A Facebook page promoting the Calaveras in Illinois shows one of the emblems: a skeleton wearing a helmet bearing what appears to be an Iron Cross.
While that cross is often associated with the Nazi regime, “it also became one of several Nazi-era symbols adopted by outlaw bikers, more to signify rebellion or to shock than for any white supremacist ideology,” according to the Anti-Defamation League.
In Texas, the Calaveras are considered to be a diverse group, with many Latino members.
A video taken by a witness to the Lake in the Hills incident shows bikers with the same marking on their jackets.
“Calaveras” is a Spanish word that translates into “skulls” in English.