Officials say a man who became irate while complaining about his sex offender status pulled out a knife in the lobby of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office before being arrested.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Vukovich said Felix L. Feliciano, 51, of Waukegan, walked into the Lake County Sheriff’s Office headquarters in Waukegan on July 30.
Feliciano was agitated and yelled at the clerks at the front desk of the sheriff’s office while complaining about his status as a sex offender, Vukovich said.
Vukovich said it is unclear what exactly Feliciano was complaining about because he is no longer required to register.
Feliciano was previously convicted in 1996 of attempted aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child under 13.
The clerks called for assistance from sheriff’s deputies.
Sheriff’s sergeants and detectives came down to assist and found Feliciano appeared to have calmed down as he sat in a chair, Vukovich said.
They walked into the lobby to talk to Feliciano and explain to him that he no longer needed to register.
Vukovich said Feliciano got agitated and reached into his pocket as one of the sergeants was approximately 10 feet away.
He pulled out a box cutter knife before being taken into custody.
Vukovich said Feliciano got more verbally aggressive when he threatened to kill the deputies and their families.
He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Feliciano was already on pre-trial release at the time for a battery case in Waukegan.
Attorney Renea Amen said her client suffers from mental health issues and said the incident was “not a crime of violence” but a mental health issue and that Feliciano did not intend to hurt anyone.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to revoke Feliciano’s release following his latest arrest.
Lake County Judge Theodore Potkonjak granted the petition after noting that it would be concerning to release Feliciano back into the public without mental health treatment.
“Again, the court can’t be sure that the next time it happens that it is going to be in a situation where the people that are there around him are people capable of defending himself,” the judge said, adding that Feliciano was already on the highest level of pre-trial services monitoring when he committed the new offense.