A judge denied pre-trial release for a Beach Park man accused of killing a woman’s dog, repeatedly attacking the woman and then taking her hostage at knifepoint.
Adrian Rivera, 40, of Beach Park, was charged with aggravated domestic battery by strangulation, failure to report a change of address by a sex offender, unlawful restraint, aggravated animal cruelty, unlawful use of a weapon, domestic battery, child endangerment and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said deputies were called to the 13000 block of West 28th Place in Wadsworth for a report of a woman being held hostage around 8:45 a.m. Sunday.
Lake County Sheriff’s 911 Emergency Telecommunicators obtained information that a female victim was being held hostage and that Rivera forced the victim to drive to Wadsworth to pick up a young child who was being kept safe at the address.
Rivera was armed with a knife and forced the victim back into the vehicle with the child, then forced the victim to drive away, Covelli said.
911 dispatchers also obtained the vehicle description, the license plate number and the direction the vehicle was last seen traveling.
They relayed the information to responding sheriff’s deputies who located the vehicle in the area of Lewis Avenue and Wadsworth Road in Beach Park.
Covelli said deputies conducted a high-risk traffic stop where Rivera was taken into custody, releasing the woman and child victim.
The child was uninjured but the woman had several injuries, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Vukovich said.
Additional investigation revealed that before taking the woman victim hostage, he battered her at the Beach Park residence where the two live, Covelli said.
Vukovich said Rivera strangled the woman at least twice using his legs and his hands.
Covelli said Rivera then went to retrieve his firearm but he was unable to locate it.
Instead, Rivera armed himself with a knife and forced the victim to drive to where the child was being kept safe away from Rivera, Covelli said.
Covelli said Rivera threatened to kill the victim and her family if she did not comply.
Vukovich said Rivera also threatened to get into a shootout with police if they were notified.
When the victim arrived at the Wadsworth location, she informed her family she was being held against her will and that Rivera was armed with a knife.
The family, in turn, called 911 and provided the information to sheriff’s 911 dispatchers.
Sheriff’s deputies also learned Rivera bludgeoned the victim’s dog to death and placed the remains in a cooler, Covelli said. The death occurred days prior to Sunday.
Deputies located the deceased dog, the bludgeon and two firearms belonging to Rivera.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office approved the array of felony charges against Rivera after reviewing the facts and circumstances of the incident.
Additional charges are possible pending the outcome of the investigation, Covelli said.
“Our 911 emergency telecommunicators operate at an extremely high level every day,” Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg said.
“Our 911 emergency telecommunicators were able to obtain very important information and relay the information at lightning speed, allowing our deputies to locate and rescue the kidnapping victims. If it were not for the high level of skill and collaboration between our 911 center and responding deputies, this violent man may have done more serious harm to the victims,” Idleburg said.
The state’s attorney’s office filed a petition to detain Rivera pending trial, calling him a real and present threat to the safety of the victim.
Lake County Judge Charles Johnson granted the petition during a detention hearing Thursday afternoon.
Johnson called the incident an “explosion of violence” and said there was clear and convincing evidence that Rivera committed the offenses.
Rivera was previously sentenced to 25 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for pointing a gun at the head of a police officer in an attempt to escape an arrest in Waukegan in June 2008, court documents show.
He is a registered sexual offender for a criminal sexual abuse conviction involving a child and is also a known gang member, Vukovich said.
Rivera is scheduled to appear in court again on July 10 for a preliminary hearing.