The Weekly Post public record for 6-7-24

NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Police reports

• PEORIA – An Elmwood-area man was accused of attacking a construction worker on the McClugage Bridge.

The incident occurred about 8 a.m. May 31, according to the Illinois State Police. A state trooper arrived at the bridge above the Illinois River and attempted to speak with the suspect, 44-year-old Nicholas S. Manning, but he fled. After a brief pursuit on foot, Manning was apprehended.

According to a preliminary report, authorities searched Manning and found a controlled substance. He was charged with possessing it, as well as aggravated battery, disorderly conduct and resisting a police officer. Manning was transported to the Peoria County Jail.

• KICKAPOO – No damage estimate was available regarding a house fire in Kickapoo.

First responders were summoned about 5:15 p.m. May 25 to the 10200 block of U.S. Route 150. There they found two people using a garden hose to try to extinguish a large fire on the front porch of the house, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.

The two were driving past the house when they noticed the fire and called for help. They said they knocked and received no response, then kicked in a back door to see if anyone was inside. Nobody was.

Eventually, the house occupant was located, and he arrived at the scene. He said he wasn’t sure how the fire could have started. Authorities do not believe the fire was suspicious but contacted the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal regarding a possible investigation, according to the report.

Firefighters from the Akron-Princeville, Brimfield, Chillicothe, Dunlap, Elmwood and Logan-Trivoli departments responded. So did Advanced Medical Transport of Central Illinois, Ameren Illinois and the local office of the American Red Cross.

• ELMWOOD – William B. Bean, 29, of Elmwood was arrested and accused of aggravated domestic battery/great bodily harm involving a 58-year-old Elmwood woman. He was transported to the Peoria County Jail on May 26. The arrest was in connection with an incident that happened about 5 p.m. at a residence in the 200 block of E. Main St., according to a heavily redacted Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.

The report listed a 46-year-old witness who otherwise was unidentified.

• PEORIA – A Yates City woman crashed a stolen vehicle into a fire hydrant in Peoria.

Megan Melton, 34, was arrested about 11 a.m. May 25, shortly after the incident that happened in the 2300 block of W. Marquette St. According to a Peoria Police Department report, an officer found an unoccupied 2006 Ford F-150 pickup truck there. Fulton County authorities reported the truck was stolen.

Witnesses said a woman later identified as Melton was trying to sell tools from the truck before she backed it into the hydrant. One witness said he then took the keys from the ignition to prevent Melton from driving, because she appeared to be under the influence.

Melton left the scene on foot and was found walking in the 600 block of S. Western Ave., the report stated. She was accused of unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle and transported to the Peoria County Jail. The vehicle sustained front passenger-side damage.

• ST. AUGUSTINE – A Farmington man and his passenger appeared to avoid injury from a two-vehicle accident east of St. Augustine.

Kyle L. Harper, 32, was driving a westbound 2006 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck that was stopped in a construction zone about 6:30 a.m. May 17 in the 300 block of Illinois Route 116. A 2024 Ram 1500 pickup truck rear-ended Harper’s vehicle, which was towing a boat trailer.

Gabriel Villa, 28, of Houston was the other driver, a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report stated. He said he was driving about 65 mph as he approached Harper’s vehicle. All vehicles involved, including the boat, sustained unspecified damage and were towed.

Harper and his passenger, a 54-year-old East Peoria man, declined ambulance transportation to a hospital. So did Villa, who was cited for driving too fast for conditions and for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

• TRIVOLI – A Knoxville man’s pickup truck was damaged in a chain-reaction accident that involved a brush chipper.

The incident happened about 3:30 p.m. May 15 in the 3300 block of W. Dog Town Lane north of Trivoli. The man started a 2001 International dump truck and intended to transfer wood chips from there into the 1992 Morbark chipper, according to an Elmwood Police Department report.

Instead, the brakes failed on the truck, which was parked on a hill. The truck rolled down the hill and struck the chipper, which then rolled into a parked 2013 Chevrolet Silverado. The dump truck and chipper were unscathed, but the pickup truck sustained more than $1,500 in damage.

• YATES CITY – A Yates City-area man was accused of pushing his mother to the floor and dumping alcoholic beverages and an oil-absorbing compound on her.

Trevor L. Smith, 25, was arrested in connection with the incident, which took place about 8:30 p.m. May 18 at a residence in the 700 block of Knox Highway 18.

Accounts differ, but the 44-year-old victim said her son confronted her in the garage. Her foot was black from the compound and the garage floor was wet, a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report stated.

Smith was charged with domestic battery and transported to the Knox County Jail in Galesburg.

• OAK RUN – An engagement ring and a wedding band, with a combined value of about $9,400, were reported stolen from an Oak Run residence.

The alleged theft happened May 15 in the 100 block of Oak View Court, a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report stated. The 34-year-old male victim said the rings were missing after his 42-year-old former girlfriend, a Galesburg resident, entered the house without his permission to retrieve personal items.

A deputy was unable to contact the woman. The engagement ring was valued at $7,649, and the wedding band was valued at $1,720.

• WILLIAMSFIELD – Heavy rain appeared to be a factor in a two-vehicle accident on Interstate 74 south of Williamsfield.
Kimberly A. Wolfe-Anthony, 55, of Bargersville, Ind., was driving a westbound 2021 Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle about 4:15 p.m. May 14 when it rear-ended a 2023 Toyota RAV4 SUV driven by Judith A. Greek, 82, of Galesburg, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report.

Both drivers said the rain hampered their vision. Greek and her passenger, an 89-year-old Galesburg man, reported no serious injuries and drove away. Wolfe-Anthony also reported no serious injuries. Her vehicle was towed.

• HANNA CITY – Twaniya T. Ross, 20, of Hanna City was arrested shortly after 1:15 p.m. May 29 and accused of violating an order of protection, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.

• HANNA CITY – Bryan M. Dunlap, 39, of Hanna City was arrested at noon May 28 and was being held for the Illinois Department of Corrections, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.

• GALESBURG – These were among calls to which the Knox County Sheriff’s Office responded between May 19-25: order-of-protection violation, Galva; battery, Williamsfield; suspicious vehicle, Yates City; two domestic disputes, Yates City; disturbance, La Fayette; damage, Happy Hollow; noise complaint, Oak Run; ATV complaint, Williamsfield; stray dog, Dahinda.

Marriage licenses
• Samantha Catherine Spears and Colin Marcus Stahl, both of Princeville.
• Shae-Lynn Marie Schmick of Princeville and Caleb Thomas Magee of Chillicothe.
• Lakin Suzanne Smith of East Peoria and Carson Ray Cuevas of Peoria.