The Weekly Post public record for 4-3-25

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

• PEORIA – An Elmwood man was arrested after he punched a police officer during a confrontation in the parking lot of a Peoria medical facility.

First responders were summoned about 3:30 p.m. March 13 to the OSF HealthCare psychiatry-and-psychology facility at 7317 N. Willowlake Court. There they found Austin E. Foster, 30, pacing around the parking lot and speaking to himself and others.

According to a Peoria Police Department report, Foster’s demeanor was uneven. He cracked his cellphone in half and threw a piece of it at someone. When officers attempted to take Foster into custody, he punched one of them in the face.

The officer tased Foster, who then was transported to Carle Health Methodist Hospital. After he was evaluated there, he was transported to the Peoria County Jail. Foster was accused of disorderly conduct, aggravated battery of a peace officer and resisting/obstructing police.

• TOULON – A Brimfield man was cited for multiple offenses after the vehicle he was driving was clocked at 33 mph over the speed limit.

A Stark County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped Jake J. Spietz, 31, for driving 88 mph in a 55-mph zone March 15. The exact location was unavailable. Spietz also was cited for illegal transportation of alcohol and illegal possession of adult-use cannabis in a vehicle, according to a report.

Spietz received a notice to appear April 25 in Stark County Circuit Court. His vehicle was impounded.

• WEST JERSEY – A Dahinda man required hospital attention following a rollover wreck north of West Jersey.
A passing motorist alerted the Stark County Sheriff’s Office to the accident, which happened March 15 at Illinois Route 78 and County Road 500 North. A helicopter transported the driver, 41-year-old Jeremy Stevens, to an unspecified hospital, according to a report.

No information was available regarding Stevens’ condition. Law enforcement was continuing to investigate.

• DOUGLAS – A speeding vehicle near Douglas contained two Yates City residents who were arguing, according to authorities.

The traffic stop happened about 7:45 p.m. March 14 in the 1600 block of Illinois Route 8, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report. After the vehicle stopped, a 51-year-old distraught woman exited it and approached the deputy.

According to the report, the woman said she and the 52-year-old driver were arguing at home. He attempted to leave for a relative’s house in Maquon, but the woman jumped in the back seat and the argument continued. Accounts differ regarding other specifics.

The deputy suggested the woman obtain an order of protection. No citation appeared to be issued, and no arrests were made.

• EDELSTEIN – A two-vehicle crash south of Edelstein resulted in no apparent injuries.

Shortly before 5:30 p.m. March 13, Ruth A. Young of Wyoming was driving a 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee south on Illinois Route 40 at Lake Shore Drive when her vehicle rear-ended a 2022 Honda Odyssey, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.

Geneva R. Keyster of Edelstein was the other driver. She said she was stopped and attempting to turn east on Lake Shore Drive. Young said she didn’t see Keyster’s vehicle until it was too late. Young had one passenger, a female, and Keyster had four passengers, all males. Neither vehicle required a tow.

• BRIMFIELD – No injuries were reported following a single-vehicle accident east of Brimfield.
Jessica A. Doubet of Brimfield was driving a westbound 2018 Chevrolet Traverse shortly before 3:45 p.m. March 12 in the 15800 block of Brimfield-Jubilee Rd. when she swerved to avoid an oncoming vehicle, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated.

The Traverse spun 180 degrees into an eastbound ditch, then Doubet overcorrected into the westbound ditch. She had a 4-year-old male passenger. The vehicle sustained significant damage and was towed.
• DOUGLAS – A Galesburg man was driving 26 mph above the speed limit when a law-enforcement officer stopped him east of Douglas.

Michael W. Morrison, 23, was behind the wheel of a westbound 2002 Chevrolet pickup truck traveling 81 mph at about 8 a.m. on March 12 in the 2000 block of Illinois Route 8, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report. Morrison said he was aware of the speed limit but was late for work.

The deputy gave Morrison a citation for speeding and a date for him to appear in Knox County Circuit Court in Galesburg.

• TRIVOLI – A motorcycle pilot from Farmington and his passenger required hospital attention after their vehicle struck a deer east of Trivoli.

Thorsten C. Carpenter was aboard a 1992 Harley-Davidson headed west shortly before 8 p.m. March 15 in the 17400 block of Illinois Route 116 when the deer ran onto the pavement, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.

Carpenter’s motorcycle skidded across the eastbound lanes into a south-side ditch. Carpenter sustained a forehead laceration and right-knee scrapes. He also complained about neck and back pain. He was transported to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, as was his female passenger, as a precaution.
The motorcycle sustained damage and the accident killed the deer.

• YATES CITY – Someone smashed the windshield of a Yates City woman’s vehicle during a birthday party, according to authorities.

The incident at a residence in the 300 block of S. Dixon St. was reported shortly before 5 p.m. March 9. Party attendees couldn’t find anything on the ground that might have broken the windshield of the 2020 Chevrolet Equinox sport-utility vehicle, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report.

• OAK RUN – A man from southern Illinois admitted to throwing a crushed Coors Light beer can at the face of an Oak Run woman.

Justin K. Johns, 45, of Marion was arrested following the incident, which happened about 1:45 a.m. March 9 during an argument at a residence on Scarlet Oak Court. The 46-year-old victim sustained a minor injury below her right eye, a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report stated. A deputy transported Johns to the Knox County Jail in Galesburg. He was accused of domestic battery.

• ELMWOOD – At 9 p.m. March 12, Zachary Howerton of Elmwood was driving a westbound Ford Escape on Tiber Creek Road east of Elmwood when the vehicle struck a deer. Howerton was uninjured, according to the Elmwood Police Department. The vehicle sustained minor damage and was drivable.

• WILLIAMSFIELD – Shortly before 6:45 a.m. March 11, Tony G. Simpson, 40, of Galesburg was driving a 2014 Ram 1500 pickup truck east in the 2000 block of U.S. Route 150 southwest of Williamsfield when the vehicle struck a deer. Simpson wasn’t injured, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report. The vehicle sustained $500 to $1,500 in damage but was drivable.

• YATES CITY – Shortly before 7:45 p.m. Feb. 18, Judy L. Magee, 58, of Williamsfield was driving a 2011 Lincoln sport-utility vehicle west in the 1900 block of Knox Road 1000 North when the SUV struck a calf in the roadway, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report. The vehicle sustained damage but was drivable. The owner of the calf, a Yates City-area resident, retrieved it.

• GALESBURG – These were among calls to which the Knox County Sheriff’s Office responded between March 9-15: two grass fires, Williamsfield; two driving complaints, Williamsfield; damage, Yates City; grass fire, Yates City; grass fire, Galva; two grass fires, Dahinda; suspicious incident, Williamsfield; burglar alarm, Yates City; harassment, Yates City; wire down, Williamsfield; vehicle fire, Farmington.