CHAMPAIGN — Champaign police arrested a man who was holed up in his home for several hours after allegedly shooting another man about 11 p.m. Monday in a neighborhood on the city's northwest side.
Police Chief R.T. Finney said about 7 a.m. Tuesday police arrested LaQuincy Harmon, 30, of the 1200 block of Hedge Road.
"We had to fire some tear gas and they negotiated and he came out," said Finney, adding there was no one else in the home that the department's SWAT team had surrounded.
Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz said her office charged Harmon with aggravated battery with a firearm, a Class X felony. He's being held on a $1 million bond pending a court appearance scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
Deputy Champaign Police Chief Troy Daniels said Harmon and Mario Pettigrew, 18, had argued, apparently over a traffic jam.
"There was a vehicle that the victim was in on Hedge Road near Holly Hill Drive. It was not able to continue traveling because of the number of people in the street. Pettigrew and Harmon got into a verbal altercation. When the victim stepped out of the vehicle, he was shot by the suspect," Daniels said.
When police got there, they quickly learned that Harmon was the alleged shooter. They had information to suggest he was inside his home and took steps to get an arrest warrant for him and a search warrant for the house.
"We made contact with him by phone but he refused to come out," Daniels said.
About 4:30 a.m. the SWAT team arrived and surrounded the house while officers continued to negotiate with Harmon for another two hours.
"He had many, many opportunities to come out. We were repeatedly asking him to come out," said Daniels, saying negotiators used both a phone and a bull horn. "Tear gas was eventually fired into the residence."
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