State Police to investigate confrontation between Belleville firefighter, delivery driver
Belleville’s police chief has asked the Illinois State Police to investigate an incident on Roan Hill Drive, near Turkey Hill, involving a local firefighter and a St. Louis delivery driver.
The off-duty firefighter called police on Saturday afternoon to report that a woman was driving recklessly in his neighborhood by speeding and running stop signs, according to Chief Matt Eiskant.
The woman, who works as a delivery driver, also called police to report that a man had come after her with a “sledgehammer.”
“The majority of the time that we get a call involving a city employee, we will have an outside agency handle (the investigation), just for transparency reasons,” Eiskant said.
Per department policy, police aren’t releasing names in the Roan Hill case because no charges have been filed.
If State Police investigators determine a crime was committed and the St. Clair County state’s attorney’s office files charges, the firefighter will be identified, Eiskant said.
“We treat city employees like any other citizens,” he said.
A Facebook media site called VOP (Voice of the People) STL News told the delivery driver’s story in a lengthy post on Tuesday that included two videos she had provided.
One 28-second video shows a man standing outside her vehicle on the passenger side. He leans down, looks through the windshield, points across the street and says, “That is very illegal.”
The man then walks around the vehicle to her rolled-up driver’s-side window and appears to be shouting, although his words are indecipherable. He’s holding a ball-peen hammer by the head in his left hand.
“(He) just ran into my car, tried to hit my car with his thing in his hand,” the woman can be heard saying. “Look at him. Look at him. Look at him. Look at him. I don’t even know this white man. I don’t even know him. I don’t know him at all. Don’t know him.”
As the woman pulls forward, the man walks along the vehicle and then behind it, continuing to shout, his image geting smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror.
According to the VOP Facebook post, the delivery driver alleged that the firefighter was “banging on (her vehicle’s) window with a sledgehammer” and that later he came out of his house with a gun in his hand when she circled around the block to meet with police.
Eiskant said the initial investigation found no evidence of a firearm, and the woman’s vehicle showed no sign of damage from a hammer. The firefighter told police he had the tool in his hand because he was working on a project.
The second video posted on Facebook includes some of the discussion between the delivery driver and two Belleville police officers who responded to the 911 calls.
“I told you to stop talking and let me finish,” one officer can be heard saying at the beginning of the video, which runs 2 minutes and 17 seconds. “I’ll answer your questions.”
The other officer asks the woman if he can take her cellphone to his patrol car to watch the video of the firefighter’s actions and record it with his body camera without the sun’s glare on the screen.
At one point, the delivery driver is having a phone conversation. She expresses outrage that the officers aren’t arresting the firefighter.
“Basically, they say he ain’t doing nothing wrong by coming up to my car with a sledgehammer. He free to do what the hell he want to do,” the woman told the person on the phone, prompting one of the officers to say, “That’s not what’s being said to you.”
Eiskant said the video posted on Facebook made it seem like the first officer was being rude to the delivery driver when actually he was just trying to get her to stop interrupting him long enough to explain something.
“The officers who responded did an incredible job,” Eiskant said. “The very limited footage that you see on Facebook is not a true representation of what occurred out at the scene.
“These officers were very caring, very concerned. ... People will put out only a small portion of a video to support their agenda. We have the full body-worn-camera footage of the officers.”
Outgoing Belleville Fire Chief Stephanie Mills and incoming Fire Chief Curt Lougeay were off duty on Wednesday. Lougeay formally took over the job at midnight.
Assistant Fire Chief Jesse Garnica, now deputy fire chief, declined to comment on Saturday’s incident, citing the investigation. He referred questions to Eiskant. When asked about the firefighter’s employment status, Garnica said he wasn’t authorized to discuss it.
Belleville Mayor Jenny Gain Meyer said she was aware of Saturday’s incident and had watched the videos. She referred questions to Eiskant.
“I don’t want to speak for their investigation,” Meyer said.
This story was originally published August 21, 2025 at 10:49 AM.
