Man Charged In Armed Home Invasion, Gunfire During Standoff With Officers: Arlington Heights Police

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — A 50-year-old man is facing felony charges after a home invasion and armed standoff with police, according to Arlington Heights police.

Alex R. Pacino of the 900 block of Euclid in Arlington Heights is charged with home invasion - discharged firearm and aggravated discharge of a firearm, both Class X felonies.

According to police, just after 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Arlington Heights officers responded to a 911 call in the 800 block of North Chestnut Avenue. The homeowners told police that an unknown man wearing all dark clothing and a hoodie entered the house through an open overhead garage door.

The residents quickly locked themselves in an upstairs bedroom and called 911.

Upon arrival, officers entered the home and immediately heard gunfire, police said in a news release.

Additional officers arrived, "making a tactical and dynamic entry into the house" and were able to get the residents out of the second-floor bedroom and bring them to safety, police said. The homeowners were not injured, according to police.

While officers were leading the homeowners to safety, additional officers saw the suspect attempting to flee through a second window before he retreated into the home, police said.

Numerous attempts by police to get the man to surrender peacefully were unsuccessful. Arlington Heights police set up a perimeter, containing the suspect to the home on Chestnut Avenue.

"Arlington Heights Police Officers set up a perimeter, containing the suspect to the residence," police said.

Police requested additional resources, including the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System (NIPAS) Emergency Services Team (EST), which relieved uniformed Arlington Heights officers and set a containment perimeter. Entry team personnel and an Arlington Heights K9 entered the home. The suspect was located in the basement. NIPAS police negotiators established contact with the suspect, police said.

After "continued verbal and tactical diversionary attempts" to get the man to surrender throughout the morning and early afternoon, negotiators were able to coordinate communication between the man and a family member, resulting in his surrender around 3 p.m., more than seven-and-a-half hours after the incident began.

Police coordinated with local public and private schools in the area, keeping them involved as the situation developed. "As the suspect was contained to the residence, there was no immediate threat to the surrounding neighborhood," the news release said. "The Police Department maintained a heavy presence in the neighborhood and area schools during the duration of the incident."

Pacino is scheduled to appear for a detention hearing Saturday in Cook County.