Girlfriend says jealousy spurred man’s rage
By Jake Griffin, The West Chicago Daily Herald
West Chicago, Ill. police shot and killed a knife-wielding man late Monday after authorities said he lunged at the officers during a standoff in the middle of residential intersection.
It was the first time in the city’s history that officers have fatally shot a suspect, police said.
Police said 44-year-old Patrick Switzer, a drifter who was staying with a girlfriend in West Chicago, refused repeated demands to drop the knife. He was shot multiple times by police after leading them on a slow, meandering, mile-long foot chase through much of downtown West Chicago.
Switzer was pronounced dead at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield early Tuesday morning, a DuPage County coroner’s report said.
Police were called to the 400 block of Main Street shortly after 11 p.m. by neighbors who said they saw a knife-toting man in the street.
Switzer, who formerly lived in Elgin, began walking from Main north to Chicago Street and east to High Street where he headed north again, police said. Officers followed him on foot and in squad cars, maintaining a 21-foot distance from the man.
He threatened police during the chase, police said.
When Switzer reached Washington Street, he turned west and led police around in circles through nearby residential streets. Near the intersection of McConnell Avenue and Arbor Avenue he began lunging at officers, police said.
At least two different police officers fired their handguns; authorities, who would not say how many times Switzer was shot.
Authorities said most of the confrontation was captured on police video.
West Chicago Police Chief Gerald Mourning defended the use of deadly force.
“Because of circumstances, there were not alternatives,” he said.
Police officers are equipped with pepper spray and handheld stun guns. Neither is effective outside of the mandated 21-foot perimeter used by police facing a suspect with a knife, officials said.
Lisa Orlando, who described herself as Switzer’s girlfriend, said he suffered from a bipolar disorder and was off his prescribed medications.
Orlando said she’d known Switzer for about two years and had tried to help turn his troubled life around.
“He was homeless, and I felt sorry for him,” she said. “I loved the man.”
Switzer sometimes slept in a tent in the area when he couldn’t find a home to stay at, Orlando said.
Switzer was released from the DuPage County jail less than a week ago after serving nearly three months for domestic battery and intoxication, jail records indicate.
Orlando said Switzer was in jail for fight between the two that left her with a broken jaw and a concussion.
Still, she took him back because she wanted to help him, she said.
“I didn’t feel he was a threat,” she said. “The Bible says to help others, and that’s what I did.”
But late Monday, Orlando said Switzer became jealous and enraged because she was taking care of an ill neighbor. Switzer found her 7-inch switchblade, which Orlando said she kept in her home for protection, and began threatening several people in the three-unit apartment house where Orlando lives.
That’s when a neighbor called police, she said.
“I’m more shocked than you that he did what he did last night,” she said.
Mourning said officers involved in the shooting were placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard practice. The number of officers on leave was not specified.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Joseph Birkett’s office is investigating the shooting along with the county’s Major Crimes Task Force.
“At this point, based on preliminary information, there’s no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the police officers,” Birkett said.
Before returning to work, the officers will have to undergo counseling, Mourning said.
It could be weeks before the investigation is concluded, Birkett said.