The Weekly Post public record for 1-26-23

NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Princeville man keeps woman’s mislaid wallet

• PRINCEVILLE – A Princeville-area man was accused of taking a wallet after it was mislaid at a local business. The wallet contained about $1,500, according to its owner.

Zachary D. Poole, 28, was arrested in connection with the incident, which took place about 7:45 p.m. Jan. 5 at Dollar General, 1107 N. Santa Fe Ave. in Princeville.

A shopper said she left her orange Coach wristlet wallet on a shelf by mistake after she loaded cases of water in her cart, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. Inside the wallet were about $1,000 in currency, a check for $500, gift cards and a driver’s license.

Store security video revealed a man later identified as Poole picked up something from the shelf and left the store. One of the Dollar General employees recognized a woman who was with Poole and notified a sheriff’s-office deputy.

As a result, the deputy visited a residence in the 10800 block of County Line Road north of Princeville. On the property was a pop-up camper, where the deputy found Poole dressed in the same-color shorts he was wearing in the video.

When asked about the wallet, Poole said he burned it, the check and the driver’s license. He gave the deputy the gift cards and $260 in cash, per the report. There was no explanation regarding the rest of the money.

“I thought I had hit it big. I’m just trying to turn my life around. You see how I’m living?” Poole said to the deputy, according to the report.

Poole was accused of theft of lost or mislaid property. The wallet’s value was $200. The deputy returned to the shopper the gift cards and remaining cash.

Police reports
• FARMINGTON – No injuries were reported in a residential fire Jan. 22 in Farmington. The fire was reported about 9:30 p.m. in the 200 block of W. Court St., according to the Farmington Community Fire Protection District. Firefighters found flames about halfway up a chimney attached to a detached garage.

Crews used an extinguisher to douse the fire. They were at the scene for about 30 minutes.

• FARMINGTON – Police arrested a man at a Farmington residence who had been in town since July but had not registered as a convicted sex offender. Dustin A. Wrobleski, 34, was transported to the Fulton County Jail in Lewistown after he was apprehended about 10 p.m. Jan. 11 in the 100 block of W. Pearl St. According to a resident at the Pearl Street address, Wrobleski had been staying there since at least November.

Law-enforcement officers first contacted Wrobleski on July 10 regarding his status, a Farmington Police Department report stated. He was convicted in 2008 and in 2014 in Ohio of gross sexual imposition with a victim younger than 13 and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, respectively, per state records.

In Illinois, Wrobleski is wanted in Crawford County for failure to register as a sex offender, the same charge he faces in Fulton County.

• HANNA CITY – A Bartonville woman’s vehicle was damaged when she tried to drive out of a Hanna City automatic car wash prematurely, according to authorities.

The incident happened about 1:30 p.m. Jan. 9 at Hanna City Car Wash, 319 N. Pekin Lane.
Stacy M. Murphy was inside a 2021 Chevrolet sport-utility vehicle when the car-wash doors opened. She thought her wash was finished and began to drive. But the car-wash machine struck the rear passenger-side door and caused more than $1,500 in damage.

Murphy said a signal at the exit was blinking red and green, but the car-wash owner and a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office deputy disputed that, according to a report. The owner watched security video of the incident. The car wash wasn’t damaged.

• BELLEVUE – No injuries were reported in a two-vehicle accident that involved a Williamsfield woman and an Elmwood man.

Shortly before 11 a.m. Jan. 3, Dana L. Tucker was driving a 2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer west on the Interstate 474 spur at Maxwell Road when it rear-ended a 2020 Ford F-150 pickup truck. The driver was Larry E. Korth. His was the last in a line of vehicles stopped at the intersection, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.

Tucker said she believed her foot slipped off the brake as her vehicle was slowing. The Trailblazer sustained extensive damage to its grille and hood. The pickup-truck rear bumper received minor damage.

• KICKAPOO – A man’s pickup truck was damaged while it was parked for days along a road west of Kickapoo, according to authorities.

The driver parked the 2000 Dodge Ram 1500 to repair a flat tire about 3 p.m. Dec. 22 at a turnaround at U.S. Route 150 and Princeville-Jubilee Road. He couldn’t fix the tire because of bad weather, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated. He repaired and retrieved the vehicle Dec. 25.

A few days later, the unidentified driver was in a single-vehicle accident. The front of the pickup truck was damaged. But he also noticed passenger-side damage – a 2-inch wide, 4-foot long gouge with no paint transfer, according to a deputy.

The driver theorized a snow plow side-swiped the truck accidentally while it was parked at the turnaround.

• TRIVOLI – About 12:30 p.m. Jan. 7, Ethan G. Marvel of Hanna City was driving a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu west on Smithville Road near Geber Road south of Trivoli when the vehicle hit a deer. The vehicle sustained more than $1,500 in damage, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. No injuries were reported.

• BRIMFIELD – Donald J. Wozniak, 34, of Brimfield was arrested at 10 a.m. Jan. 22 and accused of domestic battery/physical contact, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.