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A man whose arrest near Wonder Lake was posted on TikTok and viewed millions of times has pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver heroin and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
William Gilbert, 43, of Waukegan is required to serve half of his prison term. When released, he will serve 18 months of mandatory supervised release. He will receive credit for 410 days spent in the county jail, according to a judgment order filed in McHenry County court signed by Judge Mark Gerhardt.
In exchange for Gilbert’s guilty plea, remaining counts were dismissed, including unlawful possession of and possession with intent to deliver 100 to 400 grams of methamphetamine, manufacturing and delivering 1 to 15 grams of cocaine and fentanyl, possessing less than 15 grams of cocaine, possessing less than 200 grams of fentanyl, and resisting or obstructing a police officer causing injury, court records show.
About 12:30 p.m. July 25, 2023, Gilbert was in possession of the narcotics while driving a red Dodge Charger on Route 120 near McHenry, the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office said. When deputies tried to arrest him and handcuff him, he pulled away and fled on foot, according to court records, and as seen on the police body camera that was later posted to TikTok, court records show. During the arrest, a deputy’s hand was injured, according to the indictment.
Police had approached the Dodge Charger while it was pulled over and disabled on the side of Route 120. Authorities said Gilbert had told them he was waiting for his girlfriend’s father to arrive with a tow truck and that he was headed to his girlfriend’s house. However, the detectives had learned that a “red Dodge Charger out of Lake County was suspected of dealing narcotics within the McHenry area. After running the license plate and [Gilbert] through the Secretary of State’s Office, [Gilbert’s] vehicle was suspected to be the red Dodge Charger from Lake County in possession of and selling narcotics within McHenry County,” according to a legal motion to suppress evidence.
Detectives “recognized [Gilbert] to be an individual present at an ongoing narcotics investigation,” according to the motion.
Authorities said they recognized Gilbert as having been “present with his Dodge Charger during a controlled purchase of more than 15 grams of a controlled substance and believed to be selling large quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine in the McHenry County area,” according to the motion.
Although authorities said Gilbert told them there was nothing illegal in the Charger, when deputies brought out K-9 Deuce, Gilbert then said, “Your dog going to hit.” At this point, he tried to flee, running into the middle of Route 120, but then returning to his vehicle, according to the motion and video seen on TikTok. Deuce “alerted to [the] scent of narcotics,” according to the motion.
As detectives continued their investigation, officials said Gilbert “exhibited noncompliance and pre-flight indicators” and was “escorted over to the ditch away from Illinois Route 120 and put in handcuffs, but [Gilbert] kept pulling away.” He “broke away from the deputies and put his own life in harm’s way by running onto Route 120, ran around in circles on the road, and attempted to flag down other motorists for a ride while he was walking/running in the roadway. [Gilbert] then sprinted to the driver’s side door of the Dodge Charger and opened the door, entering the vehicle, locking himself in, refusing to exit. Deputies at this point did not know if there were any weapons or firearms inside,” according to the motion and video seen on TikTok.
When Gilbert “was removed from the Dodge Charger, a knotted clear plastic bag containing an off-white chunky substance was observed laying on the driver’s floorboard, later found to be approximately 2.8 grams of ... cocaine,” according to the court document.
Authorities also said they found “a clear plastic bag containing three clear plastic bags each containing a suspected controlled substance” inside the leg of Gilbert’s sweatpants, about 26 grams of methamphetamine, approximately 4.5 grams cocaine and fentanyl, and about 31 grams of heroin. Detectives also found “copious amounts of clear plastic sandwich bags, various latex gloves, a digital scale with white residue in the driver’s door pocket, and copious amount of clear plastic sandwich baggies located in the rear passenger side of the vehicle,” according to the motion.
Police found $1,812 in the center console and in an envelope in the driver’s door pocket, and $1,090 in various denominations in Gilbert’s wallet. A “black backpack was located in the trunk of the vehicle, containing three separately knotted-off clear plastic bags each containing a translucent crystalline substance with a total weight of 83.9 grams ... [of] methamphetamine,” according to the motion.
Gilbert is being held in the Lake County jail on drug and gun charges. That case is pending, Lake County Deputy Chief and Public Information Officer Christopher Covelli said.