A car crashed into an apartment building near Salem Avenue and St. James Street in Arlington Heights on Saturday afternoon, setting off a search for a battery suspect that pulled in officers from two neighboring towns before ending in an arrest. Police say the suspect has been apprehended and the heightened police presence that followed the incident is no longer active.
Arlington Heights police, firefighters and paramedics responded around 2 p.m. Saturday to the area just south of the village's post office, where a silver sedan had crashed against an apartment building at the southwest corner of Salem Avenue and St. James Street, according to Cardinal News. The responding agencies were investigating a battery in the 300 block of North Salem Avenue in which a victim was injured; that person was transported to a hospital, though police did not disclose which hospital or the nature of the injuries.
A witness reported that police were searching for a suspect armed with a knife, but authorities did not confirm that the battery was a stabbing, the outlet reported. The suspect, described as a white male approximately 25 years old, fled the scene before officers arrived, prompting a search of the surrounding area.
Multiple Departments Join the Search
Buffalo Grove and Palatine police joined Arlington Heights officers in the search, an arrangement made possible by the two departments' membership alongside Arlington Heights in the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System, a regional mutual aid network with an Emergency Services Team and a Mobile Field Force, according to the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System. A Buffalo Grove police officer and K-9 unit tracked the suspect while a Palatine officer was assigned to the scene, the report said. Officers searched the area near the incident address, including near the post office.
The Northwest Central Dispatch System, a consolidated emergency communications network based in Arlington Heights that serves more than 500,000 residents across 13 northwest Chicago suburbs, provides dispatch services and serves as the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System's dispatch center, per the Northwest Central Dispatch System.
Residents Told to Call 911, Not Approach Suspect
While the search was underway, Arlington Heights police alerted residents they might notice increased police presence in the area and said there was initially no indication of an immediate threat to the broader community, the Cardinal News account noted. Police asked anyone who spotted a person matching the suspect's description to call 911 immediately and advised residents not to approach or attempt to confront the individual.
The apartment building itself showed no visible damage from the street despite the collision, according to the same report. A photo accompanying the article depicted Arlington Heights police officers and the Buffalo Grove K-9 unit at the scene.
Suspect in Custody, Department Says Case Remains Open
By Saturday, the Arlington Heights Police Department posted on Facebook that the suspect had been apprehended, crediting the arrest to an extensive search and coordinated work between Arlington Heights officers and the outside agencies that assisted. The department said the search was no longer ongoing and that the increased police activity in the neighborhood would be concluding, adding that further details would be shared as appropriate when available.
It remains unclear whether prosecutors will pursue felony aggravated battery charges, which under Illinois law may apply when a battery involves a deadly weapon, occurs on public property, or causes great bodily harm, according to the Stavros Law Offices. Standard misdemeanor battery in Illinois carries up to 364 days in jail and a $2,500 fine, while the aggravated felony version carries two to five years in prison. Any resulting state charges would be handled at the Circuit Court of Cook County's Third Municipal District in Rolling Meadows, the venue that processes criminal cases stemming from Arlington Heights police arrests, per the Circuit Court of Cook County.
Arlington Heights
Arlington Heights is a suburb of roughly 75,772 residents located about 25 miles northwest of downtown Chicago, according to World Population Review.
The department has handled other serious battery cases recently. In an attack near Lake Arlington, police arrested a suspect after a four-month investigation into a choking attack on a teen.
