Beach Park man takes woman, child hostage after killing her dog: deputies
Adrian Rivera | Lake County Sheriff's Office
WADSWORTH, Ill. - Lake County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Beach Park man after he allegedly took his child and the mother of his child hostage after killing her dog.
Deputies responded to a hostage situation around 8:45 a.m. on Sunday in the 13000 block of West 28th Place in Wadsworth.
Lake County Sheriff’s 911 operators identified the victim as a woman being held by Adrian Rivera, 40, of Beach Park. Rivera had reportedly forced the victim to drive to a Wadsworth address to collect their child. Armed with a knife, Rivera then forced the woman and child back into the vehicle and made them drive away.
Operators relayed the vehicle’s description, license plate, and direction of travel to deputies, who located the vehicle near Lewis Avenue and Wadsworth Road. A "high-risk" traffic stop ensued, resulting in the arrest of Rivera and the rescue of the woman and child, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Further investigation revealed Rivera had assaulted the woman at their Beach Park home before taking her hostage. Failing to find his firearm, he armed himself with a knife and threatened to kill the victim and her family if she did not comply.
Upon reaching the Wadsworth address, the victim told her family she had been taken hostage. Her family called 911 and passed along the information to operators.
Deputies later discovered that Rivera had recently killed the victim’s dog and stored its remains in a cooler at their home, along with a bludgeon and two firearms.
Rivera was charged with aggravated domestic battery involving strangulation; two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon; failure of a sexual offender to report a change of address; unlawful restraint; aggravated animal cruelty; unlawful use of a weapon; two counts of domestic battery, and child endangerment.
Rivera has a court appearance scheduled for Monday morning.