Police: Round Lake man accused of eating evidence

A Round Lake man was charged with obstructing justice after he swallowed evidence while being held in Lake County jail, officials said.

Tony Howard, 33, of the 400 block of Sweet Clover Road in Round Lake, was arrested and jailed late Wednesday on a failure to appear arrest warrant, authorities said. He had been previously charged with criminal trespass to residence, according to a news release issued Friday by the Lake County sheriff's office.

During a secondary intake search around 1 a.m. Thursday, the jail staff found that Howard was hiding between his buttocks a small bag containing an unknown substance. Instead of turning the bag over as instructed, Howard quickly swallowed it, according to the sheriff's office.

Howard was taken to Vista East Medical Center in Waukegan for evaluation because the jail staff did not know what was in the bag.

Howard later was charged with obstructing justice because he destroyed contraband he'd brought into jail, according to the news release.

Howard remains in the Lake County jail and will be back in court at 9 a.m. Wednesday.