Members of the Will County SWAT team are on the scene where a man has barricaded himself into a home in Joliet, authorities said.
Will County Sheriff’s deputies were attempting to pull over a vehicle in the 200 block of Romayne Ave. around 12:50 p.m., when the driver of the car crashed, fled the scene on foot into a nearby home, which is not his, law-enforcement officials said.
Authorities have sent in a phone to make contact with the man, allowing for an ongoing conversation with his family members and crisis negotiators, authorities said. The sheriff’s office also has deployed drones to assist in the situation, spokeswoman Elizabeth Matthews said.
As of 7:30 p.m., the man remained inside the home and de-escalation conversations were still taking place.
Matthews could not say if anyone else was in the home the man ran into or if he knew any of the occupants of the home. The man, who is in his 40s, was pulled for multiple felony warrants, authorities said.
Sheriff’s officials are asking the public to avoid the area around Joyce Road between Jefferson Street and McDonough Street.
Joliet Township High School District 204 offices were placed on lockdown. Both Joliet Township HIgh School DIstrict 204 and Joliet Elementary School District 86 were on spring break last week and returned to classes Monday.
Marycrest Early Childhood Center went into “secure building and teach” lockdown mode, meaning no one was allowed in the building and students stayed in their classrooms, around 1 p.m., District 86 Spokeswoman Sandy Zalewski said. Police assisted with dismissal at 3:10 p.m., she said.
Mary Sears Academy, a daycare center, also was placed on lockdown, but a school employee who answered the phone said parents can still pick up their children at their normal time. The parents are being asked to avoid McDonough street.