Warrant issued for man after school lockdown
Police are searching for a 27-year-old Round Lake Beach man accused of attacking his girlfriend early Thursday, then forcing the lockdown of three Lake Villa schools while eluding capture.
A $500,000 arrest warrant has been issued for Daniel Acevedo on two counts of aggravated domestic battery, Round Lake Beach Police Deputy Chief Mike Scott said. Acevedo battered the woman at a home on Lake Shore Drive in Round Lake Beach, Scott said.
After the victim returned to her Lake Villa home, police officers spotted Acevedo and chased him on foot from Cedar Lake Road and Thompson Lane, through Prairie Trail subdivision, and into a wooded area near Thompson Elementary School, Lake Villa Police Chief Ron Roth said.
The 7:45 a.m. chase and search for Acevedo in woods west of Cedar Lake Road and south of Grand Avenue resulted in a soft lockdown of Thompson Elementary School at 515 Thompson Lane, Roth said. That lockdown was expanded later to include Palombi Middle School at 133 S. McKinley Ave. and Martin Elementary School at 24750 W. Dering Lane. All three schools are part of Lake Villa Elementary District 41.
A soft lockdown means children may move about freely in the school, but all doors are locked to prevent anyone from entering.
Police from 10 departments — including the Lake County Sheriff's Office and the Illinois State Police — created a perimeter around the wooded area. Roth said Acevedo was spotted twice by officers, but visual contact was lost at 9:05 a.m. near Fairfield Road and Grand Avenue.
A helicopter and K-9 units were brought in to assist in the search, he added.
The soft lockdown was called off at all three schools at 1 p.m. after authorities determined Acevedo was no longer in the area.
“All the resources we used to try and apprehend the suspect were released back to their jurisdictions,” Roth said. “We are taking our own precautions at this time by assigning extra patrols to the area and at Thompson School.”
Roth said there is no evidence Acevedo is armed or dangerous.
Anyone with information about Acevedo's whereabouts is urged to call Lake Villa Police at (847) 356-6106, or Round Lake Beach Police at (847) 546-2127.