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North suburban man arrested months after allegedly fleeing deputies with loaded gun

By Nic Flosi
FOX 32 Chicago
Crime and Public Safety
Published October 26, 2026 7:22 AM CDT
Published October 26, 2026 7:22 AM CDT

The Brief

    • Ricardo Perez, 35, was arrested Oct. 21 at his Beach Park home.
    • Deputies say Perez ran from officers in February and threw a loaded handgun into a nearby yard.
    • Perez faces five felony charges, including armed habitual criminal.

LAKE COUNTY, Ill. - A north suburban man was arrested eight months after investigators say he fled from deputies while carrying a loaded gun.

Beach Park felon charged

The backstory:

Lake County Sheriff’s deputies responded around 7:05 a.m. Feb. 16 to the area of Beach Road and Loyola Avenue in Beach Park.

The call involved a suspicious person who was reportedly yelling on his phone in the middle of the roadway. When deputies arrived, the man ran away on foot, authorities said.

While running, he allegedly threw a loaded handgun into the yard of a nearby home.

Deputies and a K9 unit searched the area but could not find the man. They did locate a cellphone that he reportedly lost while fleeing.

Sheriff’s detectives later obtained a search warrant for the phone. With help from the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office Cyber Lab, investigators extracted and analyzed data from the device.

Authorities said information from the phone, along with fingerprints found on the firearm, helped identify the suspect as 35-year-old Ricardo Perez of Beach Park.

Ricardo Perez | LCSO

Perez was taken into custody without incident at his home on Oct. 21.

The charges

The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office approved the following charges:

  • Armed habitual criminal, a Class X felony
  • Unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, a Class 2 felony
  • Three counts of aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon, Class 4 felonies

Perez was due in court last Thursday.

What they're saying:

Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg credited detectives with continuing to investigate after the man fled.

"This case is an example of the persistence and thorough investigative work our detectives bring to their cases," Idleburg said in a statement. "Even when someone flees the scene, the investigation doesn’t stop there. Our detectives followed the evidence and developed the information needed to identify the suspect and make an arrest."

The Source: The information in this story came from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

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