A Waukegan man has been sentenced to probation after he was charged with striking Lake County Sheriff’s Office Canine Lux, the son of Canine Dax, in Beach Park when the canine found the wanted suspect hiding in a shed.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 6 a.m. on October 16 to the 9900 block of Hendee Road in Beach Park for a call of an unwanted subject.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived and learned the offender was Armando Cazares-Garibay, 37, of Waukegan, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli.
Cazares-Garibay arrived at the victim’s home and was upset with who the victim was currently dating.
Cazares-Garibay struck the woman’s new boyfriend with a golf club, Covelli said.
Prosecutors said he also pushed the man and punched the woman’s car.
The suspect fled from the area on foot before deputies arrived. Cazares-Garibay was also wanted on a drug-related offense.
He was seen walking in the area a short time later and sheriff’s deputies arrived again and requested a sheriff’s canine team.
Covelli said Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy John Forlenza and Canine Lux arrived at the scene and began searching for Cazares-Garibay.
Lux located Cazares-Garibay hiding in a nearby shed. Covelli said Cazares-Garibay refused to exit the shed and even knew the police canine was at the scene.
Lux was deployed into the shed to apprehend Cazares-Garibay due to his lack of compliance, Covelli said.
Lux bit Cazares-Garibay during the encounter and he was then taken into custody by deputies.
Covelli said that sometime during the police canine encounter, Cazares-Garibay struck Lux but he was uninjured.
Cazares-Garibay was found with five grams of methamphetamine, prosecutors said.
He was charged with possession of methamphetamine, striking a police canine, obstructing a peace officer, battery, criminal trespass to property and assault.
The charges were non-detainable under the Illinois SAFE-T Act but Cazares-Garibay was on pre-trial release at the time of his arrest and prosecutors filed a petition to revoke his release.
Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the petition during a hearing and ordered Cazares-Garibay held in the Lake County Jail while his case was pending.
Court records show Cazares-Garibay entered into a negotiated plea deal with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office last month.
He pleaded guilty to one count of possession of 5-15 grams of methamphetamine, a Class 2 felony, in exchange for 36 months of probation. A prior active case for possessing methamphetamine was dismissed as part of the plea.
Cazares-Garibay was sentenced to 120 days in jail but the sentence is considered served.
Cazares-Garibay will be subject to random screenings as he was ordered not to consume alcohol or illegal drugs.
He was also ordered not to possess firearms and pay over $5,100 in court fines and fees.