'Growling' Shorewood Man Attacks 3 Wilmington Officers: Chief

WILMINGTON, IL — A 45-year-old man from Shorewood is now in the Will County Jail after prosecutors say Todd McFarland attacked three police officers earlier this week during a domestic violence disturbance at a house in Wilmington.

During the crime, McFarland banged his head several times on the floor of the house, almost knocking out several of his teeth, according to Wilmington Police Chief Phillip Arnold. Then, he began growling like a dog at the three Wilmington officers and also vowed to kill all the officers as well as their family members, police reports show.

It took a total of five officers: the three from Wilmington, plus one from Elwood's Police Department and another Will County Sheriff's Office deputy, to finally take McFarland away in handcuffs on Monday night, the chief said.

The Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow has charged McFarland with six felonies and one misdemeanor. McFarland is charged with three counts of aggravated battery, three counts of domestic battery and one count of resisting the arrest, which is the misdemeanor.

McFarland is accused of kicking two officers in the head and head-butting a third Wilmington officer. None of the officers was seriously hurt, although one suffered several contusions and needed to take Ibuprofen, the chief said.

The Wilmington officers were sent to a woman's house in the 32600 block of West River Road for a domestic disturbance around 7 p.m. on Monday, the chief said.

McFarland, who does not live at the house, destroyed the woman's 65-inch flat screen TV, her TV stand and several other home furnishings, according to Arnold.

At times, McFarland was self injuring himself by headbutting the floor, and then he tried to injure the Wilmington officers responding to the call, the chief said. At other times, McFarland calmed down and was fine for a while, before having another violent outburst as he tried to injure the officers, Arnold said.

When the three Wilmington officers first got to the house, McFarland "claimed that someone was trying to kill him," Chief Arnold said. McFarland was highly intoxicated and was sprawled across one of the floors, incident reports show.

Officers finally took custody of McFarland and brought him to the Riverside hospital in Kankakee for treatment of his injuries and for an overnight mental health evaluation. On Tuesday, when Wilmington police came to pick him up for detention, McFarland tried to walk away from the hospital, and then he caused significant damage to the back area of the Wilmington police car, the chief said.

Wilmington police were not able to fingerprint him and book him into custody at their police station. The Shorewood man was eventually delivered to the Will County Jail in Joliet, and booked into custody around 3 p.m. Tuesday.

This marked the first time that Wilmington police had encountered McFarland, the chief said. Monday's crimes occurred at the house of a new woman he had met, the chief said. The felony domestic battery charges accuse McFarland of attacking a woman by pushing her and grabbing her.

McFarland has prior convictions of domestic battery here in Will County from 2018 and in 2012, criminal court records show.

Bail for the 45-year-old Shorewood man was set at $20,000. McFarland lives in the 1900 block of Parkside Drive, which is out near Four Seasons Park.

The Wilmington chief said it was his understanding McFarland also has a no-bail hold placed on him by the Illinois Department of Corrections for a parole violation.