Lake and McHenry County Scanner

CDC recommends masks in Lake County for high-risk people due to ‘medium community level’ spread

Posted: 29 Apr 2022 06:38 PM PDT

File Photo – Lake County Health Department | Photo: Woo-Sung Shim / Lake and McHenry County Scanner

The CDC is recommending masks for the elderly and the immunocompromised after Lake County was upgraded to “medium community level” transmission of COVID-19 on Friday.

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced on Friday that 24,646 new cases of COVID-19 and 46 deaths were reported since last Friday.

As of Thursday night, 732 people were reportedly hospitalized in the state with COVID-19.

75 of them are in the intensive care unit (ICU) and 32 were on ventilators, IDPH said.

Officials say the case rate has been slowly rising in the state.

Five Illinois counties, including Lake County, are now rated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as having a medium community transmission level.

Health officials say those who are elderly or immunocompromised should take precautions and wear a mask in indoor public places.

Officials also recommend those people get vaccinated or receive their second booster if they are eligible.

IDPH said the state is “strongly positioned” to respond to a new surge of COVID-19 cases.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, over 3.1 million cases and nearly 34,000 deaths have been reported in all of Illinois’ 102 counties.

Nearly 22 million vaccines have been administered in the state.

Since last Friday, 111,391 doses were reportedly administered in Illinois, bringing the percentage of residents who have received at least one dose to more than 76%.

Over 68% of Illinois residents are fully vaccinated and over 51% of them are boosted, data from the CDC shows.

Officials continue to recommend residents get vaccinated.

“The most important point we want to stress about COVID-19 treatments is that timing is essential, and the public should know that it is critically important to consult a healthcare provider and seek treatment immediately if you test positive,” IDPH Acting Director Amaal Tokars said.

“The treatments are widely available with a prescription, and they are much more effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths when they are taken early in the course of the illness,” Tokars added.

Waukegan man charged with attempted murder for firing shots into vehicle near McHenry

Posted: 29 Apr 2022 05:05 PM PDT

Juan A. Colon, 26, of Waukegan | 2020 Booking Photo

A Waukegan man is wanted on attempted murder and other felony charges after he allegedly fired shots into an occupied vehicle in a neighborhood near McHenry.

Juan A. Colon, 26, of the 1800 block of Grand Avenue in Waukegan, was charged with attempted first-degree murder, armed habitual criminal, three counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm and felon in possession of a firearm.

A criminal complaint filed in McHenry County Circuit Court alleges Colon discharged a firearm toward the driver of a vehicle on Sunday.

The complaint said that Colon intended to commit first-degree murder by committing the act.

No victims in the vehicle were shot but the vehicle’s driver-side door was struck by the gunfire.

McHenry County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Porfirio Campos-Cruz said the shooting happened in the 800 block of South Black Partridge Road in unincorporated McHenry.

Campos-Cruz said that additional information in the case was not immediately available for release due to the investigation still being active.

Colon is a convicted felon after previously being convicted of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon in a 2013 Lake County case and aggravated battery in a public place in a 2015 Lake County case.

Colon is not allowed to possess any firearms due to him being a convicted felon.

Court records show an arrest warrant was issued for Colon on Thursday by McHenry County Judge Mary Nader. The warrant has no bond.

Campos-Cruz said Colon was not in custody at the McHenry County Jail as of Friday morning.

In March 2020, Colon and two other suspects were charged with beating and robbing an 18-year-old woman in Long Grove after offering the woman a ride home from a party.

Colon was sentenced in February 2021 to 24 months in the Illinois Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to aggravated battery in a public place in that case. He also received almost a year of credit for time served in the county jail.

Records from the Illinois Department of Corrections regarding when Colon was released on parole were not immediately available.

73-year-old man in critical condition after falling into water while fishing with friend near Antioch

Posted: 29 Apr 2022 02:30 PM PDT

Emergency crews respond to the Island Chain of Lakes near the 38500 block of North Lakeside Place in unincorporated Antioch for a water rescue incident that left one person critically injured Friday. | Photo: Joe Shuman/J. Shuman Photography (2022)

Authorities say a 73-year-old man is in critical condition after he fell into the water while fishing with a friend and had to be rescued Friday afternoon near Antioch.

The Antioch Fire Protection District and Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 1:35 p.m. Friday to the 38500 block of North Lakeside Place in unincorporated Antioch.

Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that dispatchers received a call of a person in the water in a channel just off the Fox Lake.

Emergency crews respond to the Island Chain of Lakes near the 38500 block of North Lakeside Place in unincorporated Antioch for a water rescue incident that left one person critically injured Friday. | Photo: Joe Shuman/J. Shuman Photography (2022)

A 73-year-old Antioch man was fishing with a friend, a 74-year-old Winthrop Harbor man, on a small watercraft.

The Antioch man’s fishing line got tangled in some weeds and he was attempting to retrieve it, Covelli said.

While attempting to retrieve the line, the victim fell into the cold water from the boat.

Covelli said the victim immediately went underwater and was underneath for approximately one or two minutes.

Emergency crews respond to the Island Chain of Lakes near the 38500 block of North Lakeside Place in unincorporated Antioch for a water rescue incident that left one person critically injured Friday. | Photo: Joe Shuman/J. Shuman Photography (2022)

His friend jumped into the water and attempted to keep him afloat by holding his head above the water, Covelli said.

A 48-year-old Villa Park man, acting as a Good Samaritan, jumped into the water to assist after hearing the Winthrop Harbor man yelling for help.

Fire department personnel arrived and rescued the two from the water.

Covelli said that the Antioch man was transported to Froedtert Pleasant Prairie Hospital in critical condition.

Foul play is not suspected at this time and the investigation remains ongoing.

Mundelein Police Canine Titan retires at age 8 following almost 7 years of service

Posted: 29 Apr 2022 12:40 PM PDT

Canine Titan and his handler Mundelein Police Department Sgt. Steven Kroll provide Mayor Steve Lentz with a $1 bill Monday evening to complete Titan’s purchase from the village so he can remain with his handler after retirement. | Provided Photo

Mundelein Police Canine Titan retired this week after serving nearly seven years on the department where he conducted over 60 successful tracks and helped recover illegal guns and drugs.

Titan officially retired at the Mundelein Village Board of Trustees meeting on Monday.

Mayor Steve Lentz issued a mayoral proclamation honoring Titan, who was the department’s first canine since 1970.

Lentz said that Titan was born on August 10, 2013, and began his first shift with the Mundelein Police Department on June 15, 2015, after completing 380 hours of initial training at TOPS in Grayslake.

Titan was certified in narcotics detection, obedience, building and area searches, article searches, obstacle course maneuvers, tracking and handler protections.

Titan’s handler, Mundelein Police Department Sgt. Steven Kroll, purchased Titan from the village for $1 during Monday’s board meeting. Titan will be Kroll’s family’s pet.

“The introduction of Titan to the community created a sense of pride in the community and strengthened the relationship between citizens and the Police Department,” Lentz said.

Titan participated in over 60 tracks which led to the successful recovery of evidence, suspects, victims and subjects with mental health conditions in need of assistance.

During the Polar Vortex in 2019, a victim of a crime had walked away from their residence with minimal clothing when the temperature was -20. Titan successfully located the subject.

Lentz said that another notable track conducted by Titan was when he helped locate a person with mental illness who had committed a crime and fled to a wooded area.

Titan participated in over 100 canine demonstrations throughout Lake County during his career.

His deployments also led to the confiscation of over 40 illegal guns, 600 illegal pharmaceutical pills, 460 grams of cocaine, 144 grams of methamphetamine, 87 grams of heroin, 10,000 grams of cannabis products and other various drugs.

“Thanks to K-9 Titan's dedication to duty and expertise over his career, the Mundelein Police Department has been greatly assisted in accomplishing its mission and living up to its core values of integrity, pride, and quality of service,” Lentz said in his proclamation.

Titan was retired because his handler was recently promoted to sergeant.

Titan would likely have retired anyway within the next 18 months because of his age, Kroll said in a letter to Mundelein Police Chief John Monahan last month.

Flyers containing anti-Semitic hate speech littered in Highland Park on Holocaust remembrance day

Posted: 29 Apr 2022 09:59 AM PDT

Highland Park | File Photo

City officials say they are working with police and the FBI after flyers containing “repugnant” anti-Semitic hate speech were found littered in Highland Park on Yom HaShoah, a Holocaust remembrance day.

The City of Highland Park said in a statement that members of the community, along with other communities throughout the North Shore, discovered the flyers in their neighborhoods Thursday morning.

The Highland Park Police Department is working closely with area police departments, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to “ensure continued community safety.”

The city said in their statement that they “unequivocally condemn anti-Semitism and all acts of hate, and stands in solidarity with our Jewish community.”

Thursday was Yom HaShoah, a remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust and an opportunity to honor survivors.

“Acts such as this are particularly offensive on a day that is especially meaningful to many in our community for whom the Holocaust is living, personal history. May we always honor the legacy of Holocaust victims and survivors by speaking out against anti-Semitism to create a safer future for our children,” the city said.

It is not known how many flyers were found in east Highland Park but Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said that the act was a “continuation of an ongoing effort to stoke hatred and mistrust throughout Illinois and the nation.”

“We as a City stand by our Statement Against Hate, and strongly condemn all acts of antisemitism. As Elie Wiesel famously noted in his 1986 Nobel Prize acceptance speech "Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." We will not be silent. This is hate,” Rotering said.

 The FBI reported that 58% of all religiously motivated hate crimes targeted Jews in 2020 despite just 2% of Americans being Jewish.

Rotering said that “hate has no place in our country, state, or city, and will not be tolerated” and urged residents to not hesitate to report something if they see it.

“We are aware of and disgusted by the antisemitic flyers distributed throughout the northern Chicago suburbs. We are even more deeply appalled that this flyering takes place on Yom HaShoah, a day where Jews and allies commemorate the 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust,” the Anti-Defamation League of the Midwest said in a statement.

Jury convicts Rockford man of selling cocaine and heroin that killed man in Wonder Lake

Posted: 29 Apr 2022 08:16 AM PDT

Eric Williams, 42, of Rockford

A jury found a Rockford man guilty of drug-induced homicide Wednesday for selling heroin and cocaine to a 31-year-old man, who died after ingesting the drugs at a home in Wonder Lake.

Eric Williams, 42, of the 5900 block of Garrett Lane in Rockford, was indicted and charged with three counts of drug-induced homicide, a Class X felony.

Williams unlawfully delivered heroin and cocaine to Steffen Darnick, 31, of Belvidere, in Rockford on December 22, 2019, a grand jury indictment said.

Darnick’s mother told McHenry County sheriff’s detectives that Darnick was staying with her family in Wonder Lake after returning home from a drug rehabilitation facility, court documents said.

Darnick’s mother drove her son to Rockford on December 22, 2019, because he told her he had to pay a debt off to a drug dealer to protect his family.

The two arrived at a large parking lot. Darnick received a phone call and left his mother’s vehicle before returning ten minutes later, court documents said.

Darnick ingested the drugs two days later and died at his parents’ home in Wonder Lake.

Small bags containing powder residue were found alongside his body and toxicology results show he consumed heroin and cocaine before he died.

Detectives were able to recover text messages from Darnick’s phone, court documents said.

Darnick had been exchanging messages with a contact named “Eee.”

Detectives determined that Darnick ordered the drugs from “Eee” and bought them when his mother took him to Rockford.

On January 7, 2020, detectives went to Rockford and sent text messages to “Eee” from Darnick’s phone in an attempted drug deal bust.

Detectives were able to set up a drug deal with “Eee,” who believed he was going to meet with Darnick.

Detectives ordered “150 n 150,” which is the same order Darnick made to “Eee,” and they agreed to meet in the same parking lot.

However, “Eee” became suspicious and attempted to flee the scene, court documents said.

Police arrested the man, who they identified as Williams.

Williams was transported to the Winnebago County Jail on charges of aggravated battery, criminal damage to state-supported property and aggravated fleeing to elude.

McHenry County sheriff’s deputies later transported Williams to the McHenry County Jail in June 2020.

A jury trial began on Monday. The jury found Williams guilty of one count of drug-induced homicide on Wednesday.

The two other counts were dismissed by prosecutors. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 7.