Deputies talk down man threatening to kill himself in Lake Villa Township

Lake County sheriff’s deputies talked a man into surrendering after he threatened to commit suicide early Sunday at a home in north suburban Lake Villa Township.

About 1:05 a.m. deputies responded to a call of a man threatening to commit suicide at the home in the 36600 block of North Helen Drive, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office. When they arrived, deputies found the 46-year-old holding a knife to his throat in a bedroom closet and threatening to kill himself.

Officers then began talking to the man and successfully convinced him to drop the knife and walk out of the closet after roughly 30 minutes, the sheriff’s office said. He was taken to a hospital for a psychological evaluation.

“This is police work at its finest,” Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg said in the statement. “Our Sheriff’s Deputies took their time and engaged in conversation instead of rushing to use force.”