Hanna City man arrested in fatal accident

By NICK VLAHOS
For The Weekly Post

KICKAPOO – Suspected drug overdoses at a Kickapoo-area gasoline station led to a three-vehicle accident this week in which a Peoria woman was killed.

Jeremy E. Perry, 43, of Hanna City was accused of three felonies Tuesday in connection with the incident – aggravated fleeing and eluding, and two counts of aggravated driving under the influence, according to Peoria County State’s Attorney Jodi Hoos.

An arrest warrant for $1 million was issued for Perry. Additional charges are expected next month after a grand jury considers the case, according to Hoos.

Miriam Schmid, 43, died in the accident shortly after 10:30 a.m. Sunday at U.S. Route 150 and Trigger Road at the northwest edge of Peoria. Illinois State Police reported three people were injured and transported to an area hospital.

The accident culminated a police pursuit that began about 20 minutes earlier at the Shell gas station at 7200 N. Kickapoo-Edwards Rd. Peoria County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived there after they received notice about two people unresponsive inside a vehicle parked at the gas pumps.

Fire-department personnel were attending to a female when a male, alleged to be Perry, drove away the vehicle, according to a sheriff’s-office news release. It wasn’t clear if he had been unresponsive and subsequently revived.

The vehicle almost struck three fire-department members, then struck a sheriff’s-office squad car parked in the gas-station lot, the release stated.

After the vehicle almost struck a deputy who was forced to jump out of the way, it headed north on Kickapoo-Edwards Road to Route 150, on which it headed east from Kickapoo eventually. As the vehicle approached Peoria city limits, it collided with two others.

Schmid died instantly from multiple blunt-force-trauma injuries, according to Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood. Schmid was wearing a seatbelt. She resided in an area of Peoria that has Edwards addresses.

The Weekly Post requested sheriff’s-office reports about the incident and accident. The request was denied because the investigation is ongoing, according to Carol Lotz, the sheriff’s-office detective’s secretary.

State Police are to release additional crash details, according to the sheriff’s office. When asked for additional information Monday, Trooper Josh Robinson of the State Police public-information department suggested The Weekly Post contact the sheriff’s office.