Man charged for knife standoff
A man has been charged with felony possession of a dangerous weapon after a standoff at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago last week.
Prosecutors say Mario Santoyo, 38, of Chicago prompted a standoff which lasted over nine hours when he held a knife to his throat and asked to speak with the FBI, which does not have an office in the building.
Police de-escalation skills hailed
The Calhoun County Sheriff and a chief deputy are being hailed for utilizing de-escalation skills they learned through crisis intervention team training.
The Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board said in May, Sheriff William Heffington and Chief Deputy Zach Hardin were able to safely bring in an axe-wielding man threatening to take his own life.
The board said law enforcements’ actions demonstrated the importance of their crisis intervention team training.
Stolen vehicles recovered, arrests made
In the past three months, Illinois State Police say they’ve recovered 225 stolen or hijacked vehicles, made six arrests, and seized 15 firearms as a result of those arrests.
More than 1,200 forensic lab assignments were made related to stolen or hijacked vehicles in that time.
In one case, ISP said five occupants that fled a stolen Jeep in Chicago were taken into custody, and a firearm was seized.
