A man, who has been arrested or charged over 60 times, armed himself with a knife and a brick and advanced at police while threatening to kill them in Waukegan, prosecutors said.
The Waukegan Police Department responded around 7:36 a.m. on July 5 to the 1400 block of Grand Avenue for a report of a domestic incident.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Emily Shanley-Roberts said the victim called 911 to report an incident that happened overnight and request help retrieving her personal belongings from the residence.
The woman reported that her mother lives at the residence but was not there at the time and her father was in the house and was not letting her inside.
Officers told the victim they could not let her in since she does not live there and since her mother was not home, Shanley-Roberts said.
Officers left the scene but were called back after the woman tried entering the home again but her father refused to let her inside.
Officers were speaking with the woman when Lorenzo T. Rucker, 40, of North Chicago, exited the home with a knife in his right hand and a brick in his left hand, Shanley-Roberts said.
Shanley-Roberts said Rucker walked up to the woman and officers while holding the weapons and saying, “I’m going to kill you, just watch.”
An officer drew their gun and another officer drew their taser as Rucker advanced on them approximately 10 feet away.
The officers ordered Rucker to put down the weapons and he complied, Shanley-Roberts said. One officer said she “100%” believed that Rucker was going to stab her or the victim.
The female victim told officers that she and Rucker were at the home the night prior when he tried to hit her before throwing glass bottles and bricks at her, Shanley-Roberts said.
Rucker was charged with aggravated assault of a peace officer, a Class 4 felony, and transported to the Lake County Jail.
Rucker was on pre-trial release at the time of the incident for aggravated battery to a peace officer that occurred in March in Waukegan.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Rucker pending trial and filed a petition to revoke his pre-trial release in the prior case.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Cannon said Rucker is a gang member and convicted felon who has been arrested or cited with criminal charges over 60 times.
Lake County Judge James Newman said he was “amazed” that Rucker was not shot during the incident, which went from “zero to 100 very quickly.”
The judge granted both petitions filed by the state’s attorney’s office and ordered Rucker held in the Lake County Jail.
Rucker is scheduled to appear in court again on Tuesday for a preliminary hearing.