Woodstock man who held off police, SWAT team for 5 hours gets supervision for possessing firearm without FOID

A Woodstock man who held a SWAT team and police at bay for five hours before being arrested has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge and was sentenced to one year of supervision and fines.

Mathew Eames, 50, was set to go to trial Thursday when he instead pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm without a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification card, a Class A misdemeanor, according to an order in the McHenry County court.

In exchange for his guilty plea, an additional misdemeanor charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon was dismissed, records show.

In October, a felony count of possessing a firearm without a FOID card was dismissed.

With his guilty plea to the lesser FOID card infraction, Eames also was ordered to pay $989 in fines and fees, records show.

Eames was initially accused after the Aug. 2 standoff of illegally possessing a Ruger AR-15 style rifle, a .22-caliber rifle and a 9-mm pistol, Woodstock Police Chief John Lieb said at the time of Eames’ arrest.

The standoff began when a juvenile flagged down a Woodstock officer and said Eames, the juvenile’s neighbor, “displayed two different firearms toward them as a possible form of intimidation for them making noise,” Woodstock police said.

They also said there were three people inside the residence where the firearms were located.

While Woodstock police and deputies from the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office created a perimeter around the house, people in nearby houses were evacuated and others were told to shelter in place, police said.

Vehicle traffic and and Metra trains on the nearby Union Pacific Northwest line also were prevented from traveling through the area during the incident.

Metra police officers also were on the scene during the incident, Lieb said.

Police got Eames’ attention about 6:30 p.m. that evening and he was detained.

“Multiple methods” were used to communicate with the other two people inside the house without success, leading police to obtain a search warrant to enter.

Because firearms were believed to be inside, members of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team also responded to the scene and assisted in executing the search warrant.

The two remaining people inside the home eventually were detained, interviewed and released, police said.

Woodstock police said they collected the three firearms from inside the house and the scene was cleared about 10:30 p.m.

With a sentence of supervision, the charge could potentially be wiped off Eames’ record if he complies with conditions placed upon him by the court.