WAMAC, IL — An 18-year-old homeless man was arrested Monday following a standoff with police at his father’s Wamac home. John C. Evilsizer IV was charged Tuesday in Clinton County Court with residential burglary and residential arson – both Class 1 felonies – in connection with Monday’s incident.

According to Wamac Police Chief Steve Prather, the father wasn’t at home when he allegedly witnessed his son on surveillance cameras stealing food and a bicycle from the house. He then contacted Wamac police who along with Centralia police responded to the home. Upon the officers’ arrival, the younger Evilsizer reportedly raced into the attic of the home where he informed officers he was armed with a 9 mm gun and would kill anyone who came up after him. At one point during the standoff, Evilsizer partially fell through a section of the ceiling but didn’t surrender at that point. Instead he reportedly began setting items on fire in the attic and dropping some of them through the hole in the ceiling. Prather estimates damages at no more than $1,500. Officers then began deploying mace into the attic space until Evilsizer surrendered. No weapons were found during the search of his person or the attic.

He was taken to the Clinton County Jail where he remains with bail set at $25,000. If he’s released from jail, Evilsizer is prohibited from having contact with his father or his father’s home.

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