URBANA, IL (CHAMBANA TODAY)- On May 8, 2024, at approximately 4 a.m., Urbana police officers responded to a call about a possible hostage situation in the 700 block of Sunny Lane. Officers arrived and were ultimately able to make contact with a female victim. Ultimately, officers learned from the victim that the male offender entered her residence through a window.

She believed that he had armed himself with a handgun that was located inside of the house once inside. She then communicated with a third party who was located out of state what was occurring. That third party reported the incident to METCAD 9-1-1, who dispatched Urbana police officers to the scene.

During the course of the incident, Urbana police officers surrounded the house and requested assistance from METRO SWAT. METRO SWAT assumed command of the situation and attempted to negotiate with the offender who was still inside of the residence. Despite numerous attempts to have the offender exit the residence, the offender refused and remained inside. METRO SWAT, who was assisted by Champaign Police Department SWAT, deployed chemical irritant agent inside of the structure. The offender was located down in the crawl space of the residence. The offender was then arrested. He was identified as Jacob M. Hill, a 36-year-old Urbana man. Hill was transported to a local hospital to be decontaminated from the chemical irritant agent and be checked for admittance to the county jail. Hill was ultimately transported and left in the custody of Champaign County Corrections staff and was preliminarily charged with

Aggravated Unlawful Restraint and Unlawful Use of a Weapon by a felon. It should be noted that Hill was also wanted from a previous domestic situation which occurred several weeks prior at the same location. He was preliminarily charged in that case as well.

Urbana Police ask that anyone who has additional information please call 217-384- 2320. Arrangements can be made for information to be shared privately. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may also submit tips to Crime Stoppers by phone at 217-373-TIPS (217-373-8477); online at 373tips.com; or the “P3 Tips” mobile app.

Community members are reminded that information submitted to Crime Stoppers is completely anonymous. Calls are routed a to third-party national call center that receives your information, completes a tip information form, and then passes the information to the appropriate law enforcement agency. Caller ID tracking is not utilized by Crime Stoppers, and conversations are not recorded.

Crime Stoppers will pay cash rewards of $5,000 for tips that lead to an arrest in any homicide case, $2,500 for tips leading to an arrest in a felony crime involving a firearm, and up to $1,000 for tips leading to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for any other crime.