NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Police reports
• PRINCEVILLE – Vehicle burglaries and thefts were reported in Princeville.
Shortly after 3 p.m. March 6, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office deputy was dispatched to a residence in the 300 block of W. High St. regarding the apparent burglary of a 2014 Ford F-150 pickup truck. Much of the report was redacted, but it indicated a vehicle about a block away was reported stolen earlier in the day.
About 8 a.m. March 6, a 2011 Hyundai without license plates and with its lights on was reported parked in front of a residence in the 100 block of E. High St. Again, much of the report was redacted. But the Peoria Police Department notified the vehicle owner, who arrived and took custody of it.
No suspect information was available.
• ELMWOOD – An Elmwood-area man was accused of swindling customers of a business he was operating.
Christopher Sloan, 49, was arrested March 5, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office. The arrests appear to stem from two incidents in February, one in Bartonville and the other in Princeville, according to heavily redacted sheriff’s-office reports. The Bartonville incident involved $239 in cash.
Sloan was charged with theft-control intent of less than $500 and of theft-control intent between $500 and $10,000, as well as two counts each of deceptive practices and home-repair fraud. The nature of the business was not listed on the reports. Sloan was taken to the Peoria County Jail.
• HANNA CITY – A law-enforcement officer couldn’t determine who was driving in a single-vehicle accident reported near Hanna City.
The vehicle, a 2010 Hyundai sedan, was eastbound shortly after 7:15 p.m. March 4 in the 11700 block of Illinois Route 116 when it made a U-turn into the north-side ditch, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated.
According to a witness, a dark-haired female was driving and a male arrived and attempted to drive the vehicle out of the culvert. The vehicle sustained front-end damage. Another witness said a man was test-driving the vehicle, which she had just purchased.
The man denied driving, although his cellphone was found on the driver’s-side floorboard. A wooden mailbox post in front of a residence also was damaged, although the owner said an earlier passing snowplow might have caused that.
• DUNLAP – A Princeville man and his male passenger reported no injuries after their vehicle rear-ended a school bus south of Dunlap, then struck a tree.
Antonio E. Peacock was driving a northbound 2009 Dodge Avenger shortly before 4:30 p.m. March 3 in the 10900 block of Illinois Route 91 when the vehicle struck the Dunlap School District bus, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.
Peacock said he lost control of the vehicle because of rain and alignment issues. The vehicle left the pavement to the west, traversed a ditch and stopped after it hit the tree, which was in the yard of a residence.
The Avenger sustained overall disabling damage and was towed. Courtland Funchess was the school-bus driver; the report did not list his hometown. Funchess said he was uninjured and the bus sustained minimal rear-bumper damage. The report did not specify if the bus had passengers.
• FARMINGTON – A Kentucky man was accused of multiple traffic offenses after he was stopped while driving in Farmington.
Alvarez Hernandez, 24, of Somerset was behind the wheel of a 2019 Ford Edge that was traveling 50 mph in a 35-mph zone about 4:15 a.m. March 3 in the 600 block of E. Fort St, according to a Farmington Police Department report.
Hernandez’s Kentucky driver’s license was suspended. Police identified Hernandez through his Mexico passport. He was cited for the license violation and for speeding, and he received a notice to appear in Fulton County Circuit Court in Lewistown. The vehicle was towed.
• FARMINGTON – A Bloomington man was accused of drunken driving following an apparent altercation with another driver east of Farmington.
Alexander M. Bricker, 21, had a blood-alcohol content of .198 after a Farmington police officer stopped him about 10:45 p.m. Feb. 27 in the 1000 block of E. Fort St. The legal limit is .08. Bricker was driving a westbound 2018 Kia Optima, according to a report, and an open can of Coors beer was found inside.
The other driver, a 33-year-old Farmington man, said Bricker’s vehicle struck his, a 2025 Ford, on Illinois Route 116. He said Bricker yelled at him and was swerving on the road. The other vehicle was damaged, although the report wasn’t specific.
Bricker was accused of illegal transportation of alcohol, operating an uninsured motor vehicle and two counts of driving under the influence of alcohol. He received a notice to appear in Fulton County Circuit Court in Lewistown.
• PRINCEVILLE – Shortly before 9:30 p.m. March 6, Jisela M. Horton-Meza of Princeville was driving a northbound 2025 Toyota on Princeville-Jubilee Road about one mile south of Parks School Road when the vehicle struck a deer that emerged from the east. Horton-Meza was uninjured, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. She drove away the vehicle. The report did not specify if it was damaged.
• EDWARDS – Shortly after 10:15 p.m. March 2, Brandon L. Johnson of Elmwood was driving a westbound 2020 Jeep Renegade in the 6100 block of Illinois Route 8 east of Edwards when the vehicle struck a deer that emerged from the south. Johnson declined medical attention, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated. The vehicle sustained damage to its front bumper, grille and passenger-side headlight and was not driven from the scene.
• GALESBURG – These were among calls to which the Knox County Sheriff’s Office responded between March 1-7: dog bite, Williamsfield; noise complaint, Yates City; burglary, Dahinda; suspicious incident, Dahinda; fire, Yates City; fire, Williamsfield.
