Lake County canine team tracks down domestic battery suspect

A Lake County sheriff's canine team tracked down a man accused of domestic battery after he ran from the scene early Sunday, authorities said.

Jermaine D. Ausley, 30, of Chicago, was later charged with two counts of domestic battery, obstructing a peace officer, criminal trespassing to a building and criminal trespassing to a vehicle, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.

Sheriff's deputies and state troopers responded about 12:40 a.m. to westbound Interstate 94 at Route 60 in Mettawa, where a witness reported seeing a battery in a vehicle on the side of the off-ramp. Ausley left the vehicle, which had been stolen, and fled the scene before authorities arrived, officials said.

Sheriff's deputy John Forlenza and his canine partner, Dax, tracked Ausley's scent to the 1900 block of Amberley Court in Lake Forest, where they found him hiding under a tarp in an outbuilding, police said.

Ausley was taken to the Lake County jail, where he is being held on $40,000 bail. His next court date is Jan. 20.