On Monday morning, a boy with disabilities escaped an apartment in Cahokia Heights, Illinois, where he and his mother had been held against their will for three days by her ex-boyfriend. Despite threats on his mother’s life if he contacted authorities, the boy left the apartment and went to a nearby hardware store to seek help. Cahokia Heights Police Chief Thomas Trice says the boy “literally saved his mom’s life.”
Officers responded quickly, surrounding the apartment and attempting to negotiate with the suspect during a standoff that lasted more than five hours. The man eventually surrendered without incident. Police then entered the apartment and found the boy’s mother tied up but alive.
The woman and the boy both suffered injuries, were taken to a nearby hospital, and are expected to make full recoveries. Trice calls it a “blessing” that everyone made it out alive, saying, “Any time that we can actually have no casualties in this situation and make a peaceful, lawful arrest, it is better for everyone.”
Source: KSDK