Man Threatens To Blow Up Police Station: Cops

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — An Evergreen Park man with an extensive criminal past is accused of threatening to blow up the Evergreen Park police station. James West, 34, appeared before Cook County Judge Peter Felice on a felony charge of threatening a public official. He is being held without bail on felony charges related to the threats.

The man was hospitalized at Little Company of Mary Hospital following his arrest for aggravated domestic battery on Dec. 30 and was not able to attend a bond hearing the next day, the prosecutor said. He was ordered held without bail. Evergreen Park police went to the hospital to get West's fingerprints, where officers claim West threatened to put sugar in their respective gas tanks.

As police transferred West from Little Company of Mary to Cermak Hospital at Cook County Jail, the prosecutor said West told the officers he was sick of the police picking on him, and that he was going to look up their names on the police reports and ruin their lives. Officers also stated that West also threatened to strap C-4 to his chest when he got out of jail and go to the Evergreen Park police station where he would "blow that bitch to hell and all of you straight up."

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The prosecutor told the judge that West had prior felony convictions from 2012 for possession of child pornography and 2010 for aggravated battery, for which West was sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections. He is a registered sex offender and has 19 misdemeanor convictions dating back to 2004 for electronic harassment, leaving the scene of an accident, assault, disorderly conduct, domestic battery and violating an order of protection.

The judge told the prosecutor he had heard enough.

The assistant public defender stated that West is currently taking medication for mental health issues.

"All that I heard is indicative of violence," Felice said. "He's threatening police officers." He set at $500,000.

West's next court date is Jan. 24 in Bridgeview.

West pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography, after he and a girlfriend texted sexually explicit photos to tried to solicit an Oak Lawn Community High School student in 2011. A teacher who saw the girl looking at the explicit images in class confiscated the student's phone. West was sentenced to six years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.