Bensenville village trustee's husband caught on video headbutting poll watcher
BENSENVILLE, Ill. (CBS) -- The term "messy politics" has been taken to a whole new level in west suburban Bensenville.
Incumbent Village Trustee Rosa Carmona was the highest vote-getter on Election Night this past Tuesday – and kept her seat in office. But Carmona is under fire over a headbutting incident involving her husband outside the Bensenville police station.
It happened in the days leading up to the election, and it is all on video.
As CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reported, surveillance cameras outside the Bensenville Police Department, 345 E. Green St., showed Robert Special in a tan coat. He was there working as a poll watcher for early voting two weeks before Election Day.
His wife, Valerie Special, was running for village trustee.
"This campaign was brutal," Valerie Special said.
In the video, Robert Special can be seen quarreling with a man wearing a neon coat across the street. The dispute was over campaign signs.
"This man was waving his arms and yelling from the other side of Green Street, and I didn't know what was going on next," Robert Special said.
The other man was later identified as Dimas Carmona – the husband of incumbent trustee Rosa Carmona. He is seen crossing the street – and headbutting Special in the face.
"I was in shock - what's going on? You know, in this day in age, I mean, come on – we're aren't kids," Special said.
Both Robert Special and Dimas Carmona walked calmly into the police department. Special said the headbutt cut his nose, while Dimas gave officers his side of the confrontation.
During questioning, Dias said it was a middle finger that set him off.
"All I wanted to ask him - why did you put the finger at me? Why did you put the finger at me?" Dimas says in the video. "I just called him and told him, 'Hey, come here,' and he put the finger at me, so I'm like, 'Okay, what's his problem?'"
"He said, 'Why did you give me the finger?' and he headbutted me," said Special.
But days after the incident, a political Facebook page campaigning for Trustee Rosa Carmona accused Special of yelling racial slurs at Dimas.
But nowhere in the body camera video, or police reports, is there any mention of racial slurs.
De Mar: "Did you yell a racial slur?"
Special: "No, I did not."
De Mar: "Any idea on why they said that?"
Special: "To discredit me; to smear my wife's campaign."
In the video, a police officer tells Dimas, "Based on what the video shows, and that he wants to press charges, you will be placed under arrest today."
As we stopped by the Carmonas' home Friday, Dimas was working on his car.
De Mar: "I just want to ask if you have anything to say about the incident at the police station."
Dimas Carmona: "No comment."
And as we were there, a woman who we believe to be Trustee Rosa Carmona pulled up.
De Mar asked: "Anything you want to say? You're an elected official – anything you want to say?"
She kept the window rolled up, and then backed up and drove off.
Dimas Carmona was charged with battery – a village ordinance violation. The Specials believe he received a lesser charge because of his relationship to the village trustee.
We reached out to Bensenville Village President Frank DeSimone, but did not get a response back.
The Specials also accuse the village of withholding the video and police report until late Tuesday so that it would not impact the election. A spokesman for the village manager said the Freedom of Information request for the documentation was completed within the timeframe established by Illinois law.
