A several-hour-long standoff prompted the response of a SWAT team and resulted in the arrest of a man who allegedly displayed guns after becoming upset about his neighbors making noise in Woodstock.
Woodstock Police Chief John Lieb said a Woodstock police officer was on routine patrol around 5:13 p.m. Wednesday in the 400 block of Lake Avenue when a juvenile flagged the officer down.
The officer met with the juvenile’s parents, who reported their neighbor had just displayed two different guns toward them.
They believed the neighbor displayed the guns as a form of intimidation because they were making noise, Lieb said.
Officers learned there were three people who were in the residence where the firearms were.
The Woodstock Police Department and McHenry County Sheriff’s Office established a perimeter around the residence.
The adjacent houses were evacuated and others were advised to shelter in place.
Vehicle traffic on Lake Avenue was stopped and the nearby train traffic was also halted to “further minimize any possible threat to the innocent public,” Lieb said.
Officers were able to eventually gain the attention of one of the subjects from inside the house.
The man, identified as Mathew L. Eames, 50, who lives at the residence, was taken into custody.
Lieb said multiple methods were used without success to attempt to communicate with the remaining two people inside the residence.
Officers obtained a search warrant to enter the residence.
Members of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team responded to the scene to assist in executing the warrant.
The two remaining occupants of the residence were detained, interviewed and released.
A total of three firearms were collected from the residence as evidence, Lieb said.
Eames was charged with one count of enhanced possession of a firearm without a FOID card, a Class 4 felony.
A criminal complaint filed in McHenry County Circuit Court alleges Eames possessed a Ruger AR-15 rifle without a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification card.
The complaint also said Eames has been convicted of the same offense prior to this incident.
Eames was transported to the McHenry County Jail and police cleared from the scene by around 10:30 p.m., more than five hours after the incident began.
McHenry County Judge Mark Gerhardt ordered Eames held on a $15,000 bond during an initial court hearing Thursday morning.
Eames was released from the jail after posting 10% of his bond. He was ordered to turn over any firearms he possesses as a condition of his bond.
Lieb said additional criminal charges may be considered against Eames once the case is reviewed by a grand jury.