Plainfield Family Feud As Man, 41, Grabs Pistol, Repeatedly Yells That He Put It In His Mouth: Police

PLAINFIELD, IL — A 41-year-old Plainfield man has regained his freedom following this week's SAFE-T Act decision by one of the Will County judges. The Will County State's Attorney's Office was hoping to keep Brandon Berger in the Will County Jail under the dangerousness standard, but the court disagreed and let him out on Wednesday evening. Berger has been charged with aggravated battery and domestic battery.

Will County Judge James Harvey was on the bench this week in Courtroom 202, where SAFE-T Act detention hearings normally take place.

According to the petition to deny pretrial release, Plainfield police officers responded to the 23900 block of Plainsman Circle on Tuesday and met with several of Berger's relatives.

According to court files, one relative told Plainfield police "that she had captured the incident on her cell phone ... Officers observed the following from (her) phone: Brandon Berger ... is heard yelling at his mother ... and his sister. Defendant stated in the video that he was going to grab his gun and leave the residence; moreover, officers heard defendant say that he put his pistol in his mouth four times."

Another relative was heard yelling that Berger was drunk and he needed help, prosecutors noted.

"As the verbal argument continued, Defendant became physically aggressive and started banging his fists on his chest while yelling" at his mother, prosecutors outlined. "Officers then observed in the video Defendant begin to yell at (his stepfather) and get closer and closer... Defendant again stated that he put his pistol in his mouth four times and that nobody did anything to help him. Defendant was calling (one relative) an 'asshole,'" the court documents allege.

Plainfield police noted that the video showed Berger hit a relative in the face while screaming and yelling at him, and the man fell off balance upon being struck. Two relatives' "accounts of the incident comport with the the video officers observed. (The mother) advised that Defendant was heavily intoxicated," prosecutors said.

Before his arrest, Berger retreated to the basement and locked himself in the basement with a 15-year-old girl, court files allege.

Prosecutors noted that Berger's criminal history includes DUI convictions from Will County cases in 2002 and 2005, a 2011 domestic battery in Grundy County and a 2015 resisting arrest in Will County.