Teen's shooting leads to gang sweep in Hainesville
Four suspects police say are gang members have been arrested at Hainesville homes where narcotics dealing is believed to have been ongoing, authorities said.
About 35 officers from the Round Lake Park Police Department and the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System, a regional tactical team, secured search warrants from a Lake County judge and pursued the reputed gang members at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Round Lake Park police Chief George Filenko said the effort was in response to the shooting of a 15-year-old boy and a pitbull-mix dog he was carrying as he walked on Pineview Drive in Hainesville on Sunday night.
Filenko said the shooting on Pineview is of concern to officials in Hainesville and Round Lake Park because the street meanders through both villages. He said Round Lake Park authorities have been working with Grayslake police, who are contracted to cover Hainesville.
“Bottom line,” Filenko said, “we're not going to tolerate this on our borders or in our town.”
Filenko said search warrants were served at two single-family homes on the 300 block of Pineview and at a Main Street apartment building. He declined to immediately identify the four suspects taken into custody, ranging in age from 19 to 27, but said they were confirmed gang members involved in narcotics dealing.
Officers found marijuana and illegally obtained prescription drugs mixed into vitamin bottles, Filenko said. The strong show of force with 35 officers from Round Lake Park and NIPAS was necessary because of what were deemed high-risk search warrants, he said.
Hainesville Mayor Linda Soto said she and Round Lake Park Mayor Jean McCue discussed the shooting and the gang member arrests Thursday. She said both villages intend to send a strong message that violence won't be accepted.
“With the recent activity, our guard is even higher,” Soto said.
Grayslake police said the attack on the 15-year-old boy was reported at 10:03 p.m. Sunday. Grayslake authorities were not immediately labeling the shooting as gang-related.
Filenko said the shooting occurred in front of one of the Pineview Drive homes where a gang member was arrested Wednesday. Authorities said someone exited a silver Chevrolet coupe and fired five or six rounds at the teen.
Police said the teen suffered a gunshot wound to the hand and was taken by ambulance to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville. The dog also was hit and taken to an animal emergency clinic for treatment of a chest injury.