Police from more than a half dozen departments converged on the 4100 block of Arthur Avenue in Brookfield on the morning of July 18 after a 24-year-old man reported to police that a woman had chased him out of her home with a gun.
The victim, a Matteson resident, called 911 at about 9:30 a.m. and police located him, unhurt, on the porch of a house across the street. Police took a 23-year-old woman into custody without incident within 15 minutes. She was not armed, according to police, who did not recover a weapon. Police said the two were longtime friends and former school mates.
According to Brookfield Deputy Police Chief Edward Petrak, the woman denied threatening the man with a gun. As of about 12:30 p.m., the police department’s social worker was evaluating the woman. It’s unclear whether she will face criminal charges.
The heavy police presence was due to the report of a weapon and because police could not immediately determine whether anyone else was inside the home after the woman’s arrest.
“We took extreme precaution because there was a gun involved,” Petrak said.
Neighbors reportedly told police that they heard screaming and yelling and the sound of things breaking inside the home after the victim fled the house. The woman at first reportedly told police that another person was inside the house. Police later learned that person was not at home.
Police also didn’t immediately enter the home because of the presence of two pit bulls, one of which was bandaged up and bleeding reportedly after the two dogs got in a fight the prior night.
A family member arrived at the scene at about 11:30 a.m. to help secure the dogs and police conducted a sweep of the residence before clearing the scene at about 12:30 p.m. The inside of the house reportedly was in disarray, with broken glass found on the floor.
With police closing off the 4100 block of Arthur Avenue for hours, the village sent a Code Red message to residents and placed a brief statement on its website, alerting people to the police action and telling them to stay indoors.
No one was injured during the incident, Petrak said.
This story has changed. The two people involved in the incident are not related.
