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CHICAGO (AP) — Both suspects in this week's nearly 21-hour hostage situation in a Chicago suburb are parolees, and one is a convicted murderer who was under electronic monitoring.
At a court appearance Friday, bond was set at $2.5 million for 41-year-old Peter Williams of Chicago and at $2 million for 40-year-old David Jordan of Dixmoor. They were charged with attempted murder, sexual assault, home invasion and aggravated kidnapping in the taking of eight hostages, including six children.
Cook County prosecutors say the men knocked on the door of a home in Harvey on Tuesday, offering to mow the lawn, then barged inside and demanded $50,000. During the overnight standoff with police that followed, one of the women who was a hostage was sexually assaulted three or four times, prosecutors said.
Negotiators talked with the suspects, who requested cigarettes and safe passage, and released some of the children. A SWAT team eventually swarmed the home, escorted the remaining hostages to safety and took the suspects into custody Wednesday morning.
Jordan, a convicted murderer, was under electronic monitoring, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections. He was sentenced in 1992 to 47 years and released last year under requirements of the law at the time of sentencing, corrections department spokesman Tom Shaer said. Jordan was not part of any early-release program, Shaer said, and was near the end of his first of three years of parole.
Records show he was a "generally compliant" parolee without violations worthy of tightening his restrictions, Shaer said. He was authorized to leave his home daily until 3 p.m. to search for a job. When he didn't return home on time on Tuesday, the electronic monitoring system triggered a notice that came in at 3:01 p.m.
By that time, the suspects were already barricaded inside the home.
Harvey acting Police Chief Denard Eaves said Friday that, as the incident began, one of the suspects tried to flee, using a female hostage as a human shield, and fired at officers before retreating into the home. One officer's arm was broken by a gunshot and another officer was grazed by a bullet.
A resident who escaped told police that the suspects were armed with three handguns, Eaves told reporters.
"Two individuals attempted to commit a crime that went horribly wrong for them," Eaves said, adding he didn't know why the home was targeted.
Counseling has been provided to the victims, Eaves said. "The timeframe, 21 hours being held against your will, it would be emotional to anyone," he said.
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