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Chester man charged after police standoff

A 40-year-old Chester man has charged with falsely making a terrorist threat after an eight-hour police standoff that began at an apartment complex at 1101 George Street on Sunday night and extended into Monday morning.

Police say Toby L. Latham was allegedly making death threats on social media and that prompted a criminal investigation. On Monday afternoon, Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker announced Latham has been formally charged with a Class 1 felony for the alleged offense.

Latham appeared before Judge Richard A. Brown in Randolph County court on Monday and bond was set at $100,000, with 10 percent applied.

Latham is scheduled for an attorney status hearing Nov. 13 at 10 a.m. and, according to Walker, has indicated he will attempt to hire private counsel.

The charging documents states the following: "Defendant knowingly made a threat to commit a terrorist act in that Defendant claimed to have hostages which he threatened to kill if his requests were not met, the Defendant would not be taken alive by the police and threatened to have three bombs which he would detonate, knowing such statements to be false."

A Facebook post, allegedly made by Latham, makes reference to killing three people if police did not listen to him.

"The longer you wait, the bigger the chance someone dies," the post says.

The post also demands that Chester police check an upstairs neighbor in the building for allegedly possessing illegal weapons and asks the FBI to be involved "so I can tell on you good old boys."

The post also taunts any attempts at a violent end to the standoff.

"I purpose showed my blinds," it says. "Go ahead sniper. You can't handle adrenaline."

Walker told the Herald Tribune that Chester police officers did execute a search warrant on the apartment building after Latham was detained.

"In this day and age, you can't take any threat without the utmost urgency," he said. "You have to take things seriously."

For most of the overnight hours, police attempted to talk Latham out of his apartment, including with the use of a negotiator and a loudspeaker. Cell phone contact was also attempted by law enforcement, with no response.

Latham eventually surrendered to authorities at 7:44 a.m. and was taken into custody and transported to the Randolph County Jail. No injuries were reported.

"This is the first time I've seen anything like this," Walker said, referring to the terrorist threat charge. "To my knowledge, it's a unique set of facts."

Court records indicate it has been more than a decade since Latham was in serious trouble with the law. He pleaded guilty to resisting a peace officer in 2007 and 2005.

CPD officers were assisted during the incident by Illinois State Police District 13, Zone 7 South SWAT, Randolph County Sheriff's Office and a crisis negotiation team from the ISP.

Two Illinois State Police troopers converse during the standoff. Shots by Shields photo
A Chester Police Department squad car is parked with its headlights trained on an apartment complex on George Street on Sunday night. Shots by Shields photo