Osceola L. Little
A second person has been charged in connection with a search and standoff for a murder suspect Tuesday in Lake Barrington that put schools on lockdown and resulted in a massive hourslong response from more than two dozen law enforcement agencies.
Luisa Sanchez, 22, of Cary was charged with obstructing justice, aiding a fugitive, and unlawful possession of a firearm after fleeing from a crash that led to the search and eventual apprehension of Osceola L. Little, 38, of Everett, Washington, authorities said. The situation played out over a broad area beginning about noon and ending about 8:15 p.m., authorities said.
Luisa Sanchez
Little, who is suspected of a recent murder in Chicago, was charged in Lake County with aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. Additional charges are likely by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office/Chicago police, according to Lake County sheriff’s Deputy Chief Chris Covelli.
Both appeared this morning in first appearance bond court in Lake County and were ordered held pending a detention hearing Thursday. Additional charges are likely and the Lake County state’s attorney’s office has filed petitions to keep them in custody pending trial, Covelli said.
According to Covelli, sheriff’s deputies about 11:55 a.m. Tuesday responded to a hit-and-run crash at Route 14 and Pepper Road in Lake Barrington. The vehicle that left the scene was found abandoned at a business northwest of Pepper Road about 40 minutes later.
Little had been driving the vehicle, Covelli said.
Earlier in the day, Little fled from police in Elk Grove Village and in Barrington and was the driver in two separate hit-and-run crashes in Elk Grove Village and Lake Barrington, he added.
Little was believed to be armed and dangerous, Covelli said.
Authorities think his vehicle became disabled because it ran out of gas not because of the damage, he added.
A large perimeter was established and nearby schools and municipal governments were notified. Video surveillance from an area business showed Little leaving the crashed car on foot with a duffle bag and a woman leaving, also on foot, with a backpack, Covelli said.
Osceola Little
Dozens of sheriff’s deputies, including specialized units aided by numerous local police officers, were deployed for a coordinated search, he added. The search was managed from the sheriff’s office’s new mobile command vehicle. Dispatch staff was allocated to the vehicle providing greater intelligence gathering and the faster relay of information to the field, according to Covelli.
About 2:10 p.m., Sanchez was taken into custody at a gas station near Route 14 and Kelsey Road. Authorities found a firearm, they say was hidden by Sanchez, inside a bathroom air vent, Covelli said.
The firearm belongs to Little and appears to have been used in the Chicago murder, he added.
At that point, more than 10 drones, 20 canine teams, an Illinois State Police aircraft, sheriff’s deputies and local police agencies were searching a large area from Kelsey Road east to North Harbor Road and from Route 22 south to Route 14, Covelli said.
Little was spotted about 6:20 p.m. And ran from authorities into an occupied industrial building on the 21900 block of Pepper Road in Lake Barrington. He was contained to an office room in the building and employees working inside evacuated, Covelli said.
Little surrendered after two hours of negotiation.
Twenty-six local and state law enforcement agencies from Aurora to Zion assisted, according to Covelli, and the Salvation Army provided food and water at the scene.