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Police: Delnor knife-brandishing suspect arrested in Indiana

Geneva police said a Campton Hills man suspected of threatening a relative with a knife Tuesday morning at Delnor Hospital was taken into custody Tuesday night in Indiana.

Justin B. Patzer, 31, is charged with felony domestic battery, domestic battery and aggravated assault. He was taken into custody by the Hammond Police Department at 8:45 p.m., according to a news release.

Patzer will be taken to the Lake County, Indiana, sheriff's office in Crown Point, Indiana, Wednesday.

Police said they were dispatched at 9:35 a.m. to Delnor on a report of a man running through the hospital brandishing a knife. The man, later identified as Patzer, had been visiting a relative at the hospital when he attempted to choke another relative, pulled out a knife and made violent threats, police said.

Geneva police Cmdr. Julie Nash said earlier Tuesday that Patzer attacked a relative in a dispute over the ownership and use of a vehicle. She said the relative was visiting Patzer's father.

Patzer then pushed a passer-by as he ran out of the hospital, and while driving away, he hit another vehicle, Nash said. Police said he left the hospital around 9:45 a.m.

The hospital was locked down while police searched it, medical office buildings, the cancer care center and the Health and Wellness Center on the campus on Randall Road.

Soft lockdowns were in place at nearby Williamsburg and Heartland elementary schools while police investigated.

Julie Phillips of Batavia and her husband were visiting a cardiology office in the 351 Randall Road building, which is the medical office building just to the south of the main hospital. They had finished his appointment when the technician returned to the examination room and said, "Looks like you will be chatting with us for a while, because you can't leave the building."

They and other patients were kept in the waiting room of the office and served coffee. For a while, the building continued to let patients in, but eventually the front door was locked. Everybody remained calm, Phillips said, adding the staff did not immediately know the details of the lockdown.

"It was a pretty weird experience, I have to say," Phillips said. "The things you think about are kind of crazy."

Patzer has been arrested by Batavia, St. Charles and Geneva police on a variety of charges since 1998 and as recently as this month.

On Jan. 14, Batavia police arrested him on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia, according to a police report.

According to Kane County court records, in 2012, he was found guilty of theft. In 2010 he pleaded guilty to retail theft. In 2007 he was found guilty of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol and was sentenced to 24 months in prison. Also in 2007, he was found guilty of retail theft and sentenced to 30 months in prison.

In 2006 he was found guilty or pleaded guilty in separate cases to theft, possession of drug paraphernalia and retail theft. In 2004 he was sentenced to two years in prison for misuse of a credit card, and in 2001 he was found guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to court records.

Also in 2001, he was charged with stealing a car.

In separate cases earlier this month in Roselle he was charged with violating an order of protection, and assault and disorderly conduct in another case, according to DuPage County court records.

There was plenty of police activity Tuesday morning at Delnor Hospital in Geneva where police say a Campton Hills man entered the hospital with a weapon and threatened a visitor. Courtesy of ABC 7 Chicago
  Police searched Delnor Hospital and adjoining buildings Tuesday for an armed man who eventually fled. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
Geneva police said Justin Patzer of Campton Hills faces several charges in connection with an incident Tuesday morning at Delnor Hospital in Geneva. Courtesy of Geneva Police
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