Lake County Gazette

Lake County Sheriff's deputies successfully de-escalated a potentially dangerous situation in Beach Park on June 27, involving an armed woman.

"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," said Sheriff John Idleburg, according to a news release. "Excellent job to Deputies David Bandillo, Admir Duratovic, Lawrence Popp, Jessica Fill, and Andrew Martini handling this intense situation."

According to the release, deputies responded at approximately 5:50 p.m. on Friday to check the well-being of a 36-year-old woman at her residence. Sheriff's telecommunicators had received a call from her family saying she was threatening self-harm. Upon the deputies' arrival at the residence, the woman ran outside and confronted them while holding a machete. As the deputies retreated, she ran into her backyard and began making suicidal statements. Deputies used their crisis intervention team techniques, speaking calmly with her for more than 20 minutes.

The release said that the deputies' de-escalation skills led to the woman dropping the machete. The deputies then led her away from the weapon. She walked with them to a waiting ambulance and was taken to a nearby hospital for care.

The Lake County Sheriff's Office Crisis Outreach and Support Team consists of police departments from Gurnee, Lake Forest, Libertyville, Lincolnshire, Mundelein, Vernon Hills, and the Lake County Sheriff's Office itself. According to the release, they have successfully reached out to help thousands of people in Lake County needing support and assistance.

The release also emphasized that anyone who needs services should know help is available without shame in asking for it. A person seeking support can call or text 988 at any time or contact the Lake County Crisis Care Line at 847-377-8088.