An agitated Will County judge has ordered the head of the Illinois State Police to appear in court Friday and explain why two watches taken from an Orland Park man nearly a decade ago during an arrest were not returned to him after charges were dropped.

The watches were identified on evidence sheets as a Cartier and a Rolex, according to court records, though authorities believe they were not the genuine articles.

Regardless of their origin, they were seized during the 2010 arrest of Wail Salem, 53, on a drug-related charges.

Judge David Carlson, seeking to resolve the matter of the watches, which he has overseen the past couple of years, last week ordered acting State Police Director Brendan Kelly to appear in his courtroom. And on Wednesday Carlson rejected a motion that another state police official be allowed to appear instead.

Lawyers representing the state police, including counsel from the Illinois attorney general’s office, argued Kelly was only recently appointed and had no direct knowledge of the case. The attorneys offered a master sergeant to testify instead. Carlson rejected the offer saying he did not want someone else to be the “fall guy.”

“The attorney general doesn’t believe the buck stops at the top, so put these guys on the chopping block?” Carlson asked Wednesday.

The watches were taken into possession by the state police during Salem’s arrest in what was a multi-police agency investigation, according to court records. Salem has served time in prison for other crimes, records show, but there is no connection between them and the watches.

The watches were never used as evidence and were never deemed to be forfeited. Salem and his attorney, Alan Bruggeman, have been inquiring about the return of the watches since 2017. The following year, Carlson issued a ruling for the return of all items that were not needed for evidence or forfeiture or considered contraband.

“I have spent more time on two damn watches,” Carlson said last week. “I’m absolutely sick of this. This is ridiculous.”

In the emergency motion considered Wednesday, the attorney general’s office noted the two watches, which the defendant claims had a combined value of $30,000, were determined to be counterfeit by an appraiser at a Lockport jewelry store and were sent “through an an apparent administrative error” to the Clinton Auto Auction along with other items seized in the case that were rightfully forfeited. At least one of the watches was sold for $400, officials said in court Wednesday.

“While ISP and its Director fully understand the court’s frustration at the length of time that the Court has spent dealing with this issue, they believe that this Court now has all of the information necessary to bring this matter to a final conclusion,” attorneys for the Illinois State Police wrote in their emergency motion. “ISP respectfully suggests that its Director can offer no more information than what has previously been provided.”

Carlson, however, on Wednesday noted that the answers about the whereabouts of the watches came at the “11th hour” and only after he ordered the appearance of the state police director.

Saying that he “could care less” about the watches, Carlson also expressed concern that they were sold despite a court order requiring the return of property not needed for evidence or that had not been forfeited.

Carlson, who is presiding judge over the felony division in Will County, added he may seek a “complete audit” of items held by the Illinois State Police related to Will County felony cases.

“We follow the law,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a criminal defendant, a lawyer or the director of the Illinois State Police.

“What else has been inadvertently sold or destroyed without leave of the court?” he later asked. “If this is a symptom or symbolic of a bigger issue … dear God.”

Carlson also questioned how the state police could legally sell items they deemed were counterfeits, but he did not delve more into that issue Wednesday.

Attorneys for the state police told Carlson there was no indication that there is a larger problem with how evidence is handled. Following the hearing, they also declined to comment if Kelly would appear before Carlson on Friday.

Salem’s attorney said his client simply wants his watches. “We want the watches back,” Bruggeman said. “If not, they have to pay my client for the property they disposed.”

Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter.