Police say St. Charles man was making threats at restaurant, Target

A St. Charles man was charged with unlawful use of a weapon Sunday after he made threats at a department store and brandished a homemade club before eventually being restrained inside a neighboring restaurant, police said.

Phillip Patrick Pavone, 41, of the 200 block of Regency Court, was causing a disturbance in the parking lot at Target, 3885 E. Main St., where witnesses said he had armed himself with what first appeared to be a baseball bat. Shortly thereafter, police received a report that someone had triggered the silent panic alarm at the nearby Portillo's restaurant when a man was seen outside with some sort of hockey stick coming near the store.

As police approached, Pavone ran inside the restaurant with no apparent weapon and told police they'd have to come in after him. Once inside, Pavone complied with police after they said they would Taser him if he didn't surrender.

Witnesses told police they first saw Pavone in the Target parking lot ranting about Adolph Hitler and making threats. The witnesses said they saw Pavone take a club-type weapon from the trunk of his car and begin waving it around.

A Target employee told police Pavone wandered the store for about 90 minutes. He told one employee his therapist had told him to get out and meet new people, so that's why he was at the store. When Pavone was asked to leave the store he began disturbing customers. Pavone then entered the Portillo's and began threatening to kill employees after questioning their ethnicity.

Once apprehended, police searched Pavone's car trunk with his permission and found a wooden board, about 3 feet long, with a metal scraper tied with a string to the end of it. Further down the board was a knife fastened with tape so the blade stuck out. There was also a screwdriver driven through the board so the blade projected out the other side.

Pavone was eventually taken to Delnor Hospital in restraints for evaluation by a social worker, police said.