Man hospitalized after ‘poison’ scare along Hobson Road

A 49-year-old homeless man remained Wednesday night at an area hospital, following a hazardous material scare in which the word “poison” was found painted on one of his car’s tires and two trees in a wooded area near farwas closed to traffic and pedestrians for more than three hours Wednesday afternoon between Oxford Lane and Market Avenue, while police and members of the County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad investigated the situation.Mike Andersfficers were called about 3:15 p.m. to Goodrich Woods, on the south side of Hobson Road and west of Johnson Drive near the city’s Pembroke Commons neighborhood.
Police initially received a 911 call concerning a suicide attempt in the woodsThe caller reported seeing a man “slumped in a vehicle, with the word ‘poison’ written on the vehicle and two trees,” Andersat the scene.officers got the man out of his vehicle - a white 1996 Toyota Camry - “and took him into protective custody.”Naperville police were joined there by members of the Naperville Fire Department and agents of County Forest Preserve District law enforcement agencies, Anders

More than a dozen police and fire vehicles and pieces of apparatus were sent to the scene. Members of the bomb squad arrived about 4:20 p.m.

“Based on the statements made by the subject, and the observations of the officers ... we sealed off the area for the protection of the first responders and the neighbors

Residents of three homes along the south side of Hobson Road were evacuated as a precaution, Anders said. The Hobson Cooperative Nursery School, located due east of the woods, was closed and vacant at the time of the emergency.

Nothing we saw indicated any kind of hazardous material or explosives after the bomb squad” examined the car and the surrounding area“There were no explosive or hazardous items found,Police also found no weapons in the man’s possession or inside the car

Investigators seized an assortment of property from the trunk. Anders said all of it proved to be benign.

The word “poison” could be seen printed in white lettering on the Camry’s front driver-side tire. The car was parked between two trees, both of which had “poison” printed vertically on their bark in white lettering.

added no criminal charges have been filed, although they could be later if deemed appropriate.

Greg Schneider, who lives in Pembroke Commons,

he watched as police put the man on the ground and handcuffed him.

“I didn’t get the best view of him, but the cops did have somebody in custody,”

A teenage boy who happened upon the scenehe walked his family’s dog past the woods every night. The Camry was parked there each time he walked the dog over the past weekSeveral other neighbors and passersby confirmed the car had been parked in the woods at all hours of the day and night for the better part of the week.