A SWAT team arrested a homeless man who advanced on them with a hammer after deputies tried evicting him from a property he was squatting on for the past seven years near Lake Bluff.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office attempted to enforce a court-ordered eviction in the 3600 block of Skokie Highway in unincorporated Lake Bluff around 10 a.m. Thursday.
The property is a large commercial site with extensive land, including a section densely covered in foliage, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli.
The property owners last summer discovered a concealed tent structure — approximately 400 square feet — hidden in thick brush.
Covelli said a man, later identified as Christopher J. Hermanson, 63, had been living there for approximately seven years.
Hermanson refused to leave after being asked, prompting the property owners to seek an eviction order.
Sheriff’s deputies served Hermanson with notice of his eviction hearing in the fall.
“While he verbally objected, he was otherwise cooperative. Given the property’s conditions, deputies determined late winter or early spring would be the safest time to enforce the eviction,” Covelli said.
Hermanson was recently served with a final notice of eviction.
Covelli said deputies arrived Thursday to enforce the eviction and Hermanson began shouting threats from inside the tent that he was armed and would kill them if they approached.
He repeatedly threatened harm, insisting the property belonged to him, despite attempts by deputies to de-escalate the situation, Covelli said.
Additional resources were requested and the Lake County Sheriff’s Tactical Response Team (TRT) responded along with canine units.
Covelli said Hermanson also threatened to kill the canines if they came near him.
Sheriff’s crisis negotiators attempted to reason with Hermanson for approximately four hours but he refused to exit peacefully.
The SWAT team began issuing final warnings just after 2 p.m. and ordered him to surrender.
Covelli said Hermanson suddenly cut a hole in the tarp around 2:10 p.m. and emerged from the structure with a hammer.
Covelli said the man refused commands to drop it as he aggressively advanced toward SWAT members.
Deputies deployed a less-lethal beanbag shotgun, striking him and allowing tactical team members to take him into custody without further incident.
Hermanson was transported to a local hospital, treated and released back into the sheriff’s office’s custody.
He remains in custody while deputies work with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office to determine charges.
Northbound Route 41 from Route 60 in Lake Forest was shut down for hours during the incident.