Woodstock Man Wielded 6 Throwing Knives, Sprayed Officers With Fire Extinguisher: Cops

By Sam Borcia, the Lake & McHenry County Scanner:

A Woodstock man is accused of threatening police officers with multiple throwing knives and spraying them with a fire extinguisher before they knocked the man to the ground with a ballistic shield and arrested him.

Michael D. Richardson, 24, of the 500 block of Clay Street in Woodstock, was charged with aggravated battery on a peace officer, aggravated assault on a peace officer, criminal damage to government property, possession of burglary tools and three counts of criminal damage to property.

The Woodstock Police Department responded on Saturday to a group home in the 500 block of Clay Street.

Woodstock Deputy Police Chief Jeffrey Parsons said that Richardson displayed a throwing knife in his right hand and made a gesture like he was going to throw it at a police officer.

Richardson shut the door on police and shielded officers forced their way into the room.

The man then sprayed multiple police officers with a fire extinguisher as they entered, Parsons said.

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The officers knocked Richardson to the ground with a ballistic shield and took him into custody. No one was injured in the incident.

After officers arrested him, Richardson reportedly damaged a section of the partition window in the rear of a police squad car, according to a criminal complaint filed in McHenry County court.

He is also accused of damaging an HP laptop and a Dell laptop along with smashing both headlights to a Ford E-350 van.

Officers found Richardson in possession of burglary tools “suitable for use in breaking into a building,” the criminal complaint said.

Parsons said that the man was also found in possession of six throwing knives.

A McHenry County judge ordered the man held in the McHenry County jail on a $50,000 bond, meaning he would need to post 10% in order to be released.

Lake and McHenry County Scanner is a local breaking news website covering issues that matter such as shootings, stabbings, house fires, kidnappings, car accidents, and more around Lake County and McHenry County.