NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Brimfield driver injured in three-vehicle accident
• BRIMFIELD – A driver from Brimfield suffered significant injuries in a three-vehicle chain-reaction collision. The accident happened about 3:30 p.m. April 13 in the 16600 block of U.S. Route 150 southeast of Brimfield.
According to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office, Bailey Elwell was driving an eastbound 1978 Ford pickup truck when he looked at the speedometer, then hit the back of a stopped 2003 Buick LeSabre. That vehicle struck a 2005 Ford Escape that had stopped to enter a driveway.
The LeSabre driver was Grace Carroll of Brimfield. The Escape driver was Nate L. Schmitt of Brimfield.
Elwell’s vehicle flipped and landed on its roof on the south side of the roadway, a sheriff’s-office report stated. The vehicle had no airbags, and the passenger compartment was smashed to its door handles.
After Elwell was freed from the vehicle, an ambulance transported him to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria. Elwell was diagnosed with a lacerated tongue and a possible broken left hand.
Carroll and a passenger traveled by private vehicle to Carle Health Proctor Hospital in Peoria, where they were treated for minor neck pain. Schmitt reported no injuries. The LeSabre sustained severe rear-end damage, according to the report. Elwell was cited for failure to reduce speed.
Police reports
• PRINCEVILLE – A Princeville business received metal-siding damage after a passenger in a parked vehicle commandeered it and backed it into the building, authorities stated.
About 3:30 p.m. April 2, Colton M. Godfrey of Edelstein parked a 2006 Ford F250 pickup truck at the BP station at 615 E. Main St. and went inside, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. Then the passenger, identified as Keith L. Koller of Princeville, got into the driver’s seat, backed the vehicle around a building corner and failed to stop.
Godfrey exited the building and pulled Koller out of the driver’s seat. They scuffled briefly, then Godfrey drove away and Koller left on foot. A witness and store security video corroborated events, the sheriff’s-office report stated.
When a deputy contacted Godfrey later, he said he had no idea why Koller backed the vehicle. Godfrey said he did not have insurance on the vehicle but would pay for damages. No damage estimate was available.
• PRINCEVILLE – A couple was arrested following an apparent domestic dispute in Princeville. Christopher M. Colvin, 47, of Princeville and Nikole L. Hazen, 42, of Brimfield were accused of domestic battery, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report regarding an incident that happened about 9:30 p.m. April 13. The dispute began at a Princeville gas station and continued at Colvin’s residence, the report said.
Hazen also was accused of unlawful possession of methamphetamine.
• BRIMFIELD – No injuries were reported in a two-vehicle crash southeast of Brimfield. About 5 p.m. April 14 in the 14500 block of U.S. Route 150, Celeste D. Shuster of Brimfield was driving an eastbound 2015 Nissan utility vehicle that rear-ended a 2022 Subaru utility vehicle, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated. The Subaru driver was Clarence E. Carr of Peoria.
The Nissan sustained extensive front-end damage and was towed.
• ELMWOOD – An Elmwood man was arrested in connection with a domestic disturbance. Joshua R. Bateman, 31, acknowledged he threw a brick about 7:30 p.m. April 12 at one of the doors of a residence in the 300 block of N. Knox St. in Elmwood, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated. Bateman was transported to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria for treatment of an ankle injury.
Bateman was accused of domestic battery/physical contact and of criminal damage to property between $500 and $10,000. After Bateman was released from the hospital, he was taken to the Peoria County Jail.
• EDWARDS – About a dozen leather saddles were destroyed in a barn fire north of Edwards, but no injuries were reported.
Public-safety personnel arrived about 2 p.m. April 12 at a farm in the 5500 block of N. Kickapoo-Edwards Rd. They couldn’t determine how the fire started, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. The south wall and south roof of the barn received heavy damage, although no estimate was available.
Firefighters from the Akron-Princeville, Brimfield, Dunlap, Limestone and Logan-Trivoli departments helped extinguish the flames.
• BRIMFIELD – Someone stole a riding lawnmower from a barn near a residence north of Brimfield, according to authorities. The reported theft from the 21000 block of W. Martin Rd. was reported about 4 p.m. April 14, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated. The property owner returned from Florida when he noticed the mower was missing.
• KICKAPOO – A South Carolina man was arrested for drunken driving, among other crimes, following an accident west of Kickapoo.
The incident happened about 8:30 p.m. April 15 at U.S. Route 150 and Philander Chase Lane. According to the Illinois State Police, Jeffrey Waldon, 54, of Summerville, S.C., was driving a 2017 Subaru that hit another car, ran off the road and struck a fence. Waldon was accused of driving under the influence of alcohol, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and improper lane use.
• FARMINGTON – Nathan C. Christy, 33, of Farmington was arrested shortly before 5 p.m. April 16 and was being held for another law-enforcement agency, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.
• HANNA CITY – Tyler A. Cox, 29, of Hanna City was arrested about 4:15 a.m. April 15 and accused of driving under the influence of alcohol, transportation/carry of open alcohol by a driver and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.
• ELMWOOD – Brandon L. Green, 31, of Elmwood was arrested about 7:30 p.m. April 12 and accused of domestic battery/physical contact, criminal damage to property of less than $500 and failure to appear in court, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office. Green was being held for at least one other law-enforcement agency.
HANNA CITY – Desiray K. Bledsoe, 21, of Hanna City was arrested shortly before 9 a.m. April 11 and was being held for another law-enforcement agency, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.
