Authorities have identified the woman who died in a recent Mundelein house fire as Alicia Bowles, 77.
She was found dead on March 2 after a fire at her home in the 1200 block of Huntington Drive. Firefighters reported that they saw smoke and flames coming from the two-story duplex when they arrived at around 5:30 p.m.
Bowles was found in an upstairs bedroom after the fire was extinguished. Authorities said they were hampered in their efforts by the amount of material piled up inside what they called the “hoarder house.”.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office performed an autopsy but said preliminary results were pending further medical studies and toxicology reports. The fire remains under investigation by police, the Mundelein Fire Department and the State Fire Marshal.
No hydrants
Countryside Fire District personnel battled a house fire on March 1 in Long Grove, the district reported.
The blaze was reported at around 8:30 p.m. in the house in the 5600 block of Oakwood Circle.
The inhabitants were able to get out of the house before firefighters arrived. CFD said there was heavy fire throughout the structure by the time firefighters arrived.
There were no fire hydrants nearby, so crews had to ferry water to the scene. Mutual aid calls brought representatives from 18 area departments who either responded to the fire or provided coverage at CFD stations.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The blaze caused heavy damage and rendered the home uninhabitable.
Human trafficking
The Illinois State Police said they arrested four men during a human trafficking operation conducted in late February in the Lincolnshire area.
ISP said the operation, which was conducted on Feb. 25-26, was intended to suppress demand for people seeking commercial sexual encounters.
The four men arrested included two Lake County residents. Timothy Hanson, 57, of Lake Bluff, and Edas Romero-Chinchilla, 32, of Round Lake Beach, were charged with traveling to meet a minor and indecent solicitation of a child. A Geneva man and a Chicago man were also arrested during the operation.
“Human trafficking is the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel a person into commercial sex acts, labor, or services against their will,” the state police said. “ISP continues its multifaceted approach toward protecting those most vulnerable with its ongoing statewide human trafficking enforcement operations.”
Undercover operation
A Beach Park man was arrested Wednesday on drug charges following a police investigation, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.
Evan E. Crews, 34, of the 40100 block of North Glendale Avenue, was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance after police took him into custody in the 200 block of Water Street in Waukegan.
The Sheriff’s Office said its Special Investigations Group conducted an undercover operation starting in January, and detectives purchased more than 90 grams of cocaine from Crews. One of the buys took place near a school, police said.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that anyone would endanger our communities by trafficking dangerous drugs, let alone so close to an elementary school,” Sheriff John Idleburg said. “Our Special Investigations Group, in partnership with the ATF — Chicago Field Division, remains relentless in holding drug traffickers accountable and keeping these poisons off our streets. I commend our detectives and law enforcement partners for their outstanding work in this case.”
Hammer threat
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man who it said came at officers with a hammer while he was being evicted from a tent home in the Lake Bluff area.
Christopher Hermanson, 63, is facing battery and aggravated assault charges after the Feb. 27 incident, police said.
According to police, Hermanson built a tent structure among dense foliage at the rear of a commercial property in the 3600 block of Skokie Highway, and had been living there for the past seven years.
Hermanson refused to leave when officers asked him to do so last fall, so they went to court and obtained an eviction notice. When police served the notice, Hermanson shouted threats from inside the tent and refused to come out, authorities said.
After negotiating for four hours, officers ordered Hermanson to come out. He cut a hole in a tarp and came at officers with a hammer. He was subdued after an officer fired a beanbag round, striking Hermanson and allowing police to arrest him.