Police searching for ex-deputy charged with home invasion

DIXON, Ill. (AP) - Authorities in northern Illinois are searching for a former LaSalle County sheriff's deputy wanted for contacting the mother of the teenage girl he's accused of holding against her will.

Sauk Valley Media reports Lee County Sheriff John Simonton said Tuesday authorities believe 46-year-old Lowell Maxwell Ambler of Mendota may be armed with a semi-automatic weapon and consider him dangerous.

He allegedly had been in a relationship with the victim's mother. He allegedly entered the mother's home in rural Lee County on Aug. 26. He grabbed the girl and tied her up. The arrival of a car prompted him to flee. Ambler was arrested Sept. 15 and charged with home invasion and aggravated kidnapping. He was freed on $250,000 bond.

Simonton says a warrant was issued for his arrest after he contacted the girl's mother on Sunday. Authorities say the search for Ambler was focused Tuesday near Plainfield in Will County, south of Chicago.