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NewsMcCook chief credits multi-agency response for ending 12-hour standoffBy James Pluta McCook Police Chief Frank Wolfe called the multijurisdictional effort that led to the capture of a central Illinois man wanted on federal firearms charges who barricaded himself inside an oil recycling plant last week “fantastic” given the nature of the situation. “It was fantastic; a perfect example of how municipal, county, federal and state law enforcement agencies all worked together and brought a potentIally bad situation to an end without anybody getting hurt,” he said this week. “We didn’t know what he was going to do, and fortunately it worked out the way it did.” After being holed up for 12 hours overnight Feb. 10 inside what was later determined to be nicely appointed yet illegal living quarters of Ortek, 7601 W. 47th St., the company’s president — 47-year-old Lowell Aughenbaugh of downstate Odell — surrendered himself from hiding in a living room of the unit when McCook firefighters smashed through the only window by spraying water through the glass. A SWAT team then forced its way through a door on the east side of the garage living unit and arrested Aughenbaugh without incident. That was only after they unsuccessfully tried to use tear gas to eject him from the building, as well as shouting commands through a loudspeaker and calling him on his cell phone throughout the night. The night before, at about 11 p.m., Nicor shut off the gas heat to the living area located some 500 feet from the actual plant, which made conditions worse and worse for Aughenbaugh. Aughenbaugh had secured himself inside the garage living unit and office of the factory after six agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) — three from Missouri and three from Illinois — converged on the business to serve him an outstanding federal warrant on two counts of illegal possession of weapons and firearms. “After the ATF tried to serve a warrant on him, he wouldn’t respond or talk to anybody (and) given his behavior we had to assume he was armed,” said Wolfe. “I kept hearing from people he was anti-government and I believed I knew why. The EPA shut him down for a year several years ago.” Aughenbaugh was a familiar face to Wolfe over the past 15 years, when the company that often was accused of emitting noxious odors by residents of McCook and neighboring Lyons would be cited by his department and numerous other environmental agencies. Although taken into custody following the all-night standoff that took place between roughly 5:30 p.m. Feb. 10 and 5:30 a.m. Feb. 11, Aughenbaugh was eventually extradited to face charges in Missouri. No weapons were ever found inside of the two-flat residence, replete with a bedroom, kitchen and hot tub. Wolfe said Aughenbaugh avoided a lengthy prison stay in Illinois when he waived extradition hearings here to be voluntarily taken by authorities to Missouri where the alleged offenses occurred. And, he added, the factory remains open for business. Aughenbaugh, a former member of the military, was described by federal authorities as having a history of self-unmedicated manic depression. Upon being taken into federal custody, he appeared before a U.S. District Court judge in Chicago that day and was charged with illegal possession of firearms and destructive devices and interstate communication of threats to injure another — which, upon conviction, could result in up to 15 years in prison and fines of up to $500,000. Published reports indicated Aughenbaugh was arrested on charges of making a terrorist threat Jan. 3 and released from a county jail in central Missouri on $100,000 bond three days later after police said his wife claimed he called her on New Year’s Eve, threatened to kill her and her family and blow up the police station in Rolla, a small town about 120 miles southwest of St. Louis. A brief standoff also occurred between Aughenbaugh and police in Rolla that day after he was pulled over in a truck he owned. They later were led by him to a cache of guns. That same report quoted Aughenbaugh’s attorney, Lance Thurman of Rolla, as claiming the weapons, ammunition and bomb-making equipment seized by ATF Jan. 3 were bought and registered to Aughenbaugh’s estranged wife and that no “direct threats” were ever made to the police there. In addition, the published report revealed the contents of a probable-cause statement filed in court in support of the terrorist-threat charge which suggested Aughenbaugh had “been preparing for a world crisis and considered himself to be an extreme survivalist.” The statement also stated he told his son he was coming to Rolla to kill his wife’s entire family, blow up the Rolla Police Department and kill himself. ATF spokesman Tom Ahern stated Aughenbaugh just returned to downstate Illinois after previously living in Missouri. Ahern also said federal agents confiscated 91 weapons they believe belonged to Aughenbaugh, including 15 fully automatic rifles. Upon his arrest last week, ATF confiscated another 38 weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition for those weapons, believed to have been owned by the suspect, from an undisclosed Chicago area location, he added. “We’re not used to this stuff,” said Wolfe, who had to stay awake for 28 consecutive hours since he had worked a full shift the day before and then stood guard some 300 feet from the plant with negotiators and other investigators all night. Traffic was shut down for the entire night along 47th Street between Harlem Avenue and Joliet Road, thanks to the dispatch of 10 squad cars from various municipalities to block off all access points to the scene. The AMF Bowling alley in Lyons was evacuated for the whole night as a precaution, but no nearby Lyons residences were affected. Emergency crews from the Division 10 Mutual Aid Box Alarm System responded in case their assistance was needed, including police officers and firefighters from Brookfield, Lyons, Countryside and Hodgkins. |
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