Waukegan Standoff: Man Sprays Lighter Fluid At Deputies

WAUKEGAN, IL — A man who authorities said tried setting sheriff's deputies on fire during an hours-long standoff in Waukegan Tuesday is now in custody. According to a news release from the Lake County Sheriff's office, members of the sheriff's office Civil Process Team went to a single-family home — which was divided into apartments — in the 0-100 block of Philippa Avenue at 9:40 a.m. to serve a mental health order on a 38-year-old Waukegan man.

A Lake County judge on Monday issued the order for deputies to take the man to an area mental health hospital, according to the sheriff's office.

When the deputies tried entering the foyer of the home, they found the front door was barricaded, according to the news release. The homeowner gave the deputies permission to force the front door open, and when they did, they found that the door was barricaded by a large piece of furniture.

Once deputies got inside, the 38-year-old man came out of his second-floor apartment and wouldn't comply to deputy orders, and tried setting the deputies on fire by spraying lighter fluid through a flame from the lighter at them, according to the sheriff's office. However, deputies blocked the fire with their shields, and went outside to get a fire extinguisher from the squad car to put out a small fire in the foyer.

The deputies immediately started crisis communication with the man and called for more help. The sheriff's office Crisis Outreach and Support Team (COaST), Sheriff’s Negotiations Team and Crisis Intervention Team spent several hours talking to the man, trying to get him to surrender peacefully despite him not complying with authorities, according to the news release. The sheriff's office also said the man appeared several times at the top of the stairwell with knives, telling deputies, "Come get me."

Members of the sheriff's office Tactical Response Team (TRT) also arrived and formed a plan to safely take the man into custody, during which they sprayed a pepper-based substance into the apartment and fired beanbag rounds toward the man when he came near his door with the knives, the sheriff's office said. The beanbag rounds caused the man to drop of the knives, and he went back into his apartment, the news release said.

TRT operators were then able to get into the apartment through one of the second-floor windows, while other deputies continued crisis communications, and at 4:20 p.m. were able to take the man into custody without any injuries, according to the sheriff's office. He was taken to a mental health facility.

Washington Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Jackson Street in Waukegan were shut down for hours during the standoff and into Tuesday evening.

Also during the hours-long standoff, the sheriff’s office worked closely with the Waukegan School District and an area daycare to make sure students and staff at the nearby buildings were safe, according to the news release. In the news release, the Lake County Sheriff’s office thanked Waukegan Police for their help along with the other law enforcement agencies who responded to help with traffic and crowd control.

“This was an extremely volatile and tense situation," Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg said. "Our staff was interacting with an unstable man who was clearly in mental distress, and posed a risk to himself and others. I could not be prouder of our staff who took their time and worked together to take this man into custody without injury to him or anyone else. This is precisely what they train for and that training paid off today.”