Chicago man accused of threats against public officials, Lake County Courthouse

A Chicago man convicted in 2016 of making a terrorist threat directed at the Lake County courthouse again is being held for threatening the courthouse, authorities said Saturday.

Daniel B. Pederson, 42, was taken into custody Friday by Lake County sheriff’s detectives in Chicago on an arrest warrant on the charge of threatening a public official, a Class 3 felony, according to sheriff’s Deputy Chief Chris Covelli.

On June 14, Lake County authorities became aware a man passed a note to a security guard working at a restaurant in Chicago’s Riverwalk area saying there would be “a mass shooting with military precision” at the Lake County courthouse, Covelli said in a news release.

The note included threats directed at a Lake County judge and Chicago police officer assigned as a task force officer to the FBI, according to Covelli.

An investigation was launched and the man, later identified as Pederson, was spotted by the same security guard he had passed the note to, Covelli said. The security guard called Chicago police and the man was located and taken into custody.

Sheriff’s detectives obtained an arrest warrant and took Pederson to the Lake County jail. Additional charges are possible, Covelli said.

According to Covelli, Pederson yelled expletives at the judge during his first appearance court hearing Saturday and was ordered held for a detention hearing scheduled for Tuesday.

Pederson was sentenced to six years in prison on the allegation that on Sept. 12, 2014, he called a government office saying he would “light up” the Gurnee police station and the Lake County courthouse in Waukegan.