Cops: Suspects traded hostage for cigarettes in Ill. standoff

HARVEY, Ill. - The two men accused of taking two adults and six children hostage in Harvey, Ill. earlier this week reportedly demanded cigarettes from authorities in exchange for a child at one point during the 20-hour standoff, reports CBS Chicago.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart told reporters that the negotiations with the suspects were a "roller-coaster ride" and that his chief negotiator told him that in 150 such cases, he had never seen one like it, according to the station.

Dart said that at one point, the suspects demanded a car so that they could make a getaway. That request was denied.

The hostage-takers didn't speak directly to negotiators, but instead used one of the women hostages to relay messages back and forth over the phone, Dart said.

As time wore on, the negotiations grew increasingly violent - with the suspects making a series of threats to execute all of those they held, Dart said. That eventually prompted the decision to send SWAT teams in.

The SWAT teams, consisting of about two dozen heavily armed law enforcement officers, stormed the home Wednesday to free the remaining four hostages and capture the two suspects. Four of the six children had been freed overnight after hours of negotiations.

The standoff began at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday when police in Harvey responded to a neighbor's report of a possible burglary at the home. Two officers were wounded in an initial exchange of gunfire, and the two suspects barricaded themselves inside the home with the eight captives.

The names of the suspects have not been released, but Dart said they were both on parole. One had served six prison sentences, the other five, reports CBS Chicago.

Four of the captive children were from one family and the other two were relatives, according to Dart, adding that nothing indicated any relationship between them and the hostage-takers. One of the adult women held captive is a nurse who was at the home to care for a 2-year-old girl.

No one was hurt physically, but the incident took an emotional toll, Dart said. Some of the children were just 1 year old.

"The hostages were hysterical," Dart said about their rescue. "They were screaming and unable to talk."