Five Hour Standoff Now Over
UPDATED 04/21/11 11:10 p.m.
OAK FOREST, Ill. (CBS/WBBM) -- A five hour standoff is over in Oak Forest with nobody hurt. WBBM's Bob Roberts was there...
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Police in south suburban Oak Forest were searching late Thursday night for a man who they believed had barricaded himself in a house for hours — leading to the evacuation of about a dozen families — but the man actually was in a bar while they had been negotiating with him on the phone, police said.
Police broke into the house about 9:15 p.m. after shooting OC spray through the windows.
The South Suburban Emergency Response Team and hostage negotiators were called to the scene, Mayor Hank Kuspa said, and the Cook County sheriff's police bomb squad arrived about 10 p.m. Kuspa said police had been interviewing family members.
"Police are taking their time and trying to talk to him without causing harm to anyone," Kuspa said.
About a dozen families were evacuated from their homes, Kuspa said, and at about 9:45 p.m., Kuspa was on his way to pick up pizzas for the families. A bus the city uses for senior citizens was being used as a warming center for the families, Kuspa said. He said that as of 9:45 p.m., he could not confirm that police had contacted the resident.
Media in a nearby yard could hear police yelling, "Come out with your hands up," and "we need you to answer your cell phone or the phone in the black box dropped off by an officer," and "you won't be hurt," at about 7:30 p.m.
A bank parking lot on Central Avenue was set up as a makeshift staging ground.
Oak Forest police have blocked traffic on Central Avenue from 159th to 163rd streets.
Traffic along Central Avenue is being diverted at the corner of Wesley Street. At least one Oak Forest emergency management vehicle is on the scene, and three Oak Forest police officers are directing traffic.
Tinley Park Police Cmdr. Steve Vaccaro said Tinley Park police were asked to help Oak Forest with normal service calls while Oak Forest police deal with their ongoing situation.
"Oak Forest has a situation, and we're assisting them with any street calls they may have so they can keep their personnel on the scene of their situation," he said.
Oak Forest police at the scene declined to comment.
Neighbor Judy McCarthy said she was told at about 4 p.m. to evacuate from her house on Mary Ann Court, a half block away from where the standoff was taking place. McCarthy said she tried to return to her home to get her cancer medication, but was not allowed.
"I don't think the guy is going to blow his house up, I just hope they catch the guy so I can get back in my house," McCarthy said.
Neighbor Sarah Janozik said she moved into the neighborhood in July and had problems with the resident, whose house is across the street from her home. She said he seemed fascinated by fireworks and would occasionally fire them off in his back yard.
"I was hearing random booms that would wake me up at night," Janozik said, but she never called police on him. "He was very strange and never came out of his house."
Police were beginning to stage a news conference just after 10 p.m.
Contributing: Sun Times Media Wire & WBBM. All Rights Reserved.
