Hearing June 3 for man who hit trooper

By NICK VLAHOS
For The Prairie News

GALESBURG – A Bureau County man implicated in a two-vehicle crash in February that injured an Illinois State Police trooper from Elmwood wants a jury trial.

Joseph S. Pruiett, 46, of Wyanet pleaded not guilty March 23 in Knox County Circuit Court to multiple criminal charges that stemmed from the accident. A vehicle Pruitt was driving struck a squad car parked along the Knox-Stark county border. State Police Officer Braden McFall was inside that vehicle.

Pruiett appeared in front of Judge Andrew Doyle via video conferencing from a treatment facility, according to Knox County State’s Attorney Ashley Worby. She did not respond to emailed questions regarding what facility Pruiett was in and for what he was being treated.

According to Worby, she sought to have Pruiett detained in the Knox County Jail. But when Pruiett appeared in court Feb. 23, Judge Chad Long ordered the defendant placed in home confinement.
Pruiett was to leave home only for work and for medical, court and church appointments. Pruiett was to be compliant with mental-health treatment and receive an alcohol-and-drug evaluation. He also was subject to electronic monitoring regarding his whereabouts.

Represented last week in court by public defender Christopher Kanthak, Pruiett waived his right to a preliminary hearing. A status hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. June 3, and a pretrial conference was set for the same time July 6. Doyle is to preside over both hearings.

The accident happened shortly after 7:15 p.m. Feb. 20 on Illinois Route 17 at Knox Road 2400 East. McFall and Pruiett were transported to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria. Law-enforcement officials did not make public their medical conditions, nor their injuries.

McFall, who has been a state trooper for about two years, has been convalescing. He graduated in 2020 from Elmwood High School.

Pruiett was charged with aggravated battery of a peace officer, aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol and aggravated reckless driving, all felonies. He also faces misdemeanor charges of resisting an officer and two DUI counts, as well as failure to reduce speed and driving on the wrong side of the road.
In 2025 in Bureau County, Pruiett pleaded guilty to reckless discharge of a firearm, a felony. He received 30 months’ probation, effective last September.