'How Wrong This Decision Is': SWAT Commander Rebuked Call Not To Send Team To New Lenox Barricade

NEW LENOX, IL — The Will County Sheriff's Department SWAT commander openly disagreed with Sheriff Mike Kelley's decision not to send the team to a New Lenox barricade call on Sunday, text message records show.

Police were called Sunday to a home in New Lenox's Sky Harbor subdivision for a domestic battery complaint. The call led to an hours-long incident in which police say a man—identified as Nickolas Svehla, 49—threatened to harm police and cut off communication with them while harbored inside the home.

According to prosecutors, police met with a woman who said she had been arguing with Svehla. The woman and a 13-year-old girl fled the house, while Svehla and an 11-year-old boy remained inside. The woman told police that Svehla was armed but that she did not believe he would harm the boy, according to court documents.

Svehla was "not cooperative, made threats of violence towards police officers, and ceased communication with officers while remaining in the residence," police said.

A massive police presence, including the South Suburban Emergency Response Team, surrounded the home and lined the neighborhood's streets late into the night through the next morning. The Will County Sheriff's SWAT team had also been requested by New Lenox Police but was told to stand down—a call that was under scrutiny and which Sheriff Mike Kelley has since acknowledged may have been a mistake.

New Lenox Patch filed Freedom of Information Act requests for dispatch records and text message communications regarding the team's movements before and throughout the incident. A 90-page document returned shows members prepared and ready to move before Kelley calls them off.

In a text message thread including Deputy Chief Mark Kedziora and Sheriff Mike Kelley, at 7:32 p.m.—an hour after the incident began—it's communicated that an armed, barricaded suspect is inside a New Lenox home along with an 11-year-old boy. The text says Svehla's FOID card is revoked, and he is "alleged to keep guns on his person." Dispatch relayed that Svehla was threatening to shoot police. Kedziora goes on to say that New Lenox Police have charges prepared and were working to secure an arrest warrant.

"Then let's keep our SWAT team at home," Kelley responds. "just assist them with patrol."

On another text message thread including SWAT Commander Lt. Nathaniel Freeman, Sheriff Kelley and two other recipients, Freeman later voiced his disapproval of Kelley's decision.

"I just want to make sure I am on the record letting everyone know how wrong this decision is," his text message reads. "This is a bonafide SWAT activation all day long. This is not something patrol should be handling. If this goes south there will be no one who will disagree with my assessment of this."

"you're on record and i'll make sure i take note," Kelley responded.

Freeman then issued notice to team members.

"Despite the justification, nature, and severity of this incident, we are to pull out and clear the incident," Freeman wrote.

According to Will County Sheriff's Office protocol, there are several incidents for which SWAT can be deployed. The team is utilized in high-risk situations including , but not limited to:

• Sniper Situations
• Hostage/Barricaded Subjects
• Acts of Terrorism
• Searches and Service of Warrants on potentially dangerous subjects
• VIP protection and security
• Investigation support missions for intelligence

SWAT has two components. The first component consists of 25 tactical personnel including a paramedic, according to the website. They use specialized training with tactics and equipment to achieve, if at all possible, a non-violent solution to a high-risk incident. The second component of the group is composed of 10 members, who use specialized training to resolve a hostage/barricaded incident through negotiations.

Amid the confusion Sunday, other team members are seen saying "it's a (expletive) joke" that they were told to stand down.

On Wednesday, Kelley issued a statement that seemed to align with Freeman's take.

"Above all, I am grateful that there were no injuries to law enforcement or neighbors in the surrounding area during this incident," Kelley said in a statement to Patch. "As for my decision, yes, I did decide to not activate the SWAT team. That was based on the information I was provided at the time on Sunday night.

"Looking back on that decision now, I admit, it may not have been the right call."

Svehla would ultimately remain inside the home until the next morning, when he left and was arrested nearby, according to officials.

He appeared in court Tuesday for a pretrial detention hearing, where a Will County judge ordered him detained until trial.

Prosecutors detail what happened

In a petition to deny pretrial release for Svehla, prosecutors detailed the incident's timeline, which aligns with Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) records Patch obtained via the Freedom of Information Act.

As police tried to coax Svehla out of the residence, he told them they were "going to have to come inside and get him," according to the Will County State's Attorney's petition to deny pretrial release.

Svehla reportedly told dispatchers that he did have a weapon but would not disclose what kind. He also claimed that in addition to the 11-year-old boy, a second child was inside the house with him.

Svehla told dispatch that he would not leave the home while police outside were armed, and before he disconnected, warned, "There is going to be a murder scene," prosecutors said.

As the situation continued, Svehla reportedly texted with a friend, saying that police wanted to kill him. Svehla said he had 10 rounds and that "the police do not care if they 'smoke the kid.'"

According to prosecutors, friends who spoke with Svehla on the phone told police he had said he would "go down shooting," and another caller told dispatch that Svehla had given the boy with him a firearm amid the ordeal.

Throughout the incident, officials said Svehla was seen turning lights on and off inside the home and using his phone flashlight to navigate as he moved throughout it. He also reportedly unlocked and remotely started a white pickup truck parked in the driveway, also unlocking an SUV, according to officials.

Prosecutors said he occasionally stepped out the front door to yell at police, later putting a note outside the residence telling officers to "come back at 0900 hours."

Authorities then disengaged, they said, to avoid further escalation.

Vodka & metal baton found in truck, guns found in house

Police were surveilling the home the next morning, when Svehla was seen leaving with the 11-year-old boy in a pickup truck. He was stopped nearby, the boy was removed from the truck and Svehla was taken into custody. An "expandable metal baton" was seen in the door of the truck, police said.

In the backseat was a gym bag containing one opened pint of vodka and one empty pint of vodka, according to police.

When interviewed by police, officials said Svehla claimed the woman had attacked him first and "tried to cut or stab him" with either a fork or knife. He then "performed a foot sweep and brought her to the ground to protect himself and control her."

When pressed on why he did not speak with police the night prior, Svehla said it wouldn't matter because he knew he was going to be arrested, according to the petition.

Prosecutors say police searched the home and found several guns inside a safe next to the bed, including a 9mm pistol in a holster with 10 rounds of live ammunition in the magazine and a live round in the chamber, plus a 25-caliber pistol with seven rounds of live ammunition and a live round of ammunition in the chamber. An older, short-barrel rifle was also found in a closet, while another older rifle was found hanging on a coat rack in the garage. A disassembled Uzi was also found in a box on a dresser in the bedroom, prosecutors said.

In petitioning to keep Svehla detained, prosecutors outlined his criminal history, which includes a battery conviction, DUI arrest and orders of protection filed against him but later dropped. Prosecutors also emphasized Svehla's propensity for alcohol and substance abuse, and prior firearm threats against his family that led to orders of protection being sought.

"The nature and circumstances of this incident are severe," prosecutors said. "The defendant made multiple statements to police dispatchers and to neighbors and friends about being a target of police and going down shooting. During the period the defendant was making the statements, he also claimed to have provided his minor child with a firearm to use in a potential police shoot-out. The defendant made further false claims of another minor in the residence. The defendant was alleged to have been intoxicated during this time and placed his minor child in danger."

A domestic violence form filled out by police indicates prior instances of violence and possible infidelity with indications of a failing relationship, prosecutors said. Police have a documented history of domestic violence calls to the residence, prosecutors said.

Svehla also previously voluntarily surrendered his FOID card for mental health struggles in 2010, prosecutors said, showing a history of mental health issues.

If Svehla were to be released, he would pose a danger to his family and others, prosecutors said.

"A simple court order does not prevent the defendant from having contact with the victim nor prevent the defendant from attacking the victim, let alone anyone else, rather it could simply allow for sanctions by the Court after the defendant reoffends," they said.

Svehla was ordered detained, with a next court date set for Oct. 13. He is also ordered not to have any contact with the victim or the two children.