Charges expected today for man who triggered evacuation in Wauconda

Charges are expected later today for a man accused of threatening to blow up officers using explosives, authorities said.

Approximately 125 homes near the 400 block of Lake Shore Boulevard were evacuated Thursday evening after the man told an employee at a business that he wanted to lure officers to his home with the intention of blowing them up with explosives he had there, authorities said.

Residents were allowed to return to their homes at about 12:20 a.m. Friday after a more than three-hour evacuation to sweep his house for explosives.

Investigators began to process the scene after it had been searched by dogs from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Wauconda police said on its Facebook page.

Wauconda officer Heather Cognac said police lifted the evacuation order when they felt confident there was nothing large enough to be a danger to anyone outside the home.

The suspect had said he was terminally ill and hated politicians and the police, Cognac said.

Police made sure all residents were notified before beginning the search of the suspect's home with assistance from the Waukegan bomb squad and Illinois State Police SWAT Team.

Valentin Roman was one of the residents told to leave the area after he had gotten home by detouring around a closed Route 176.

“My girlfriend had gotten home minutes after I got home and said, ‘Apparently they're evacuating the area and we have to get everything and get going,'” he said.

“It's inconvenient, but it's a matter of public safety, so it is what it is,” he said.

Even after most intersections were reopened, Lake Shore Boulevard remained closed to through traffic between Route 176 and Hill Street. Highland Avenue also remained closed between Lake Shore and Clearview Avenue.

Wauconda police were continuing to post updates on Facebook through the early morning hours.