The Lake County Sheriff’s Office credited the actions of its dispatchers for helping to find and stop a violent man who was attacking a woman as they drove around the region.
The sheriff’s office said it took a call at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday from a woman frantic as the man she was with had become violent. Dispatchers were able to trace the call to the area of U.S. Route 45 and Center Street in the Grayslake area and determine that the caller was in a southbound vehicle.
As a dispatcher stayed on the line to obtain more information, other dispatchers were alerting area police departments about the situation. Police officers who went to the woman’s home were able to find out what kind of car she was in.
At one point, the woman’s call to 911 ended, but dispatchers were able to re-establish communications and traced the car to Buffalo Grove. An officer from that department made a traffic stop and took the man into custody.
Police identified him as Hector O. Cortes Del Rio, 26, of Beach Park. He was charged with unlawful restraint and domestic battery. The woman had injuries to her face and body, but declined hospital treatment, police said.
Sheriff John Idleburg praised the actions of the dispatchers.
“With their vast knowledge of the entire county, utilization of best practices, and the care they have for our community, our telecommunicators are consistently the calm behind the phone for people in some of their worst moments,” he said. “In this case, they did an incredible job working to stay with the caller and figure out her location, ensuring she was safely rescued.”
Missing woman
Antioch police are asking for the public’s help finding a woman who is missing and was last seen by her family in February.
Megan Bos, 37, was reported missing earlier this month, the department said.
Her family last saw her on Feb. 17, police said. She is known to frequent the Waukegan, Racine, Kenosha and Milwaukee areas, police said. Antioch police have pursued multiple leads and are working with police in other jurisdictions in an attempt to locate Bos.
Bos is five-foot-four, weighs about 200 pounds, has dark brown hair and brown eyes. She has a birthmark below her left eye and has tattoos on her right bicep, chest and thigh.
“We are asking anyone with information to come forward to help Megan reunite with her family,” Antioch Police Chief Geoffrey Guttschow said.
Anyone with information regarding her whereabouts is urged to call the CenCom Dispatch Center at (847) 270-9111.
Victim identified
The Lake County Coroner’s Office has released the identity of the man killed March 14 when he was hit by a train in Lake Forest. William Morgan, 72, of Lake Forest, died from blunt force injuries, the coroner’s office said.
Morgan was hit by a freight train at about 12:03 p.m. near the Lake Forest Metra station at the intersection of Waukegan and Everett roads, authorities said.
Name the K-9
Round Lake Beach police are asking for the public’s help in coming up with a name for the department’s new K-9 officer. The four choices for names are Dez, Vader, Jango and Iko.
You can cast your ballot at the link on the department’s Facebook page.
