A woman in mental crisis confronted sheriff’s deputies with a machete and deputies were able to successfully de-escalate the situation following a standoff Friday evening.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 5:50 p.m. Friday to a residence in Beach Park for a well-being check call.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said deputies were requested to check on a 36-year-old woman at her residence after receiving a call from her family that she was threatening self-harm.
The woman immediately ran outside and confronted the deputies with a machete when they arrived.
The woman ran into her backyard and began making suicidal statements after the deputies retreated.
Sheriff’s deputies used their crisis intervention training and calmly spoke to her for over 20 minutes, Covelli said.
The woman dropped the machete and deputies guided her away from the weapon.
Covelli said the woman walked with deputies to an awaiting ambulance and was transported to a nearby hospital to receive care.
“Crisis intervention and de-escalation are skills our staff believe in and continually train for. I am so proud of our entire agency for always focusing on helping those who are in need and truly caring about the community,” Lake County Sheriff John D. Idleburg said.
“Excellent job to Deputies David Bandillo, Admir Duratovic, Lawrence Popp, Jessica Fill, and Andrew Martini handling this intense situation,” Idleburg said.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Crisis Outreach and Support Team (COaST), which consists of the Gurnee Police Department, Lake Forest Police Department, Libertyville Police Department, Lincolnshire Police Department, Mundelein Police Department, Vernon Hills Police Department and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, has reached out to and helped thousands of people in Lake County needing support and assistance.
“Anyone in need of services should know that help is available, and there is no shame in asking for it,” Covelli said.
Anyone who needs someone to talk to can call or text 988 at any time or call the Lake County Crisis Care Line at 847-377-8088, which is also available 24/7.