The Weekly Post public record for 1-5-22

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

Minor chlorine leak at Princeville water plant

• PRINCEVILLE – The Princeville village water-treatment plant was the site of a minor chlorine-gas leak last week, according to authorities.

The leak was reported shortly before 11:30 a.m. Dec. 29 in a structure between the main plant and the Village Hall, according to Jeff Troutman, first assistant chief of the Akron-Princeville Fire Protection District. Troutman also is the Princeville village president.

An employee at the water-treatment plant walked past the structure and heard hissing, Troutman said. The noise was from a leaking chlorine-gas cylinder. The employee was unable to stop the leak. The Peoria Fire Department hazardous-materials team was summoned to cap it.

Local firefighters closed a nearby intersection and set up an emergency decontamination area in case it was needed, according to Troutman. He estimated the capacity of the cylinder at less than 40 gallons.

“A lot more time went into getting ready to go in and shut it off than the actual shutoff,” Troutman said. “If it would have ruptured and released the entire contents, by the time we got up there it all would have been over with. It wasn’t a 500-gallon tank sitting there.

“If you were standing within 50 yards of it, you never would have known it was leaking.”

The village employee who discovered the leak inhaled some of the gas, according to Troutman. The employee was treated at a hospital and released. Troutman attributed the leak to a malfunctioning heater that caused washers around the tank fitting to melt.

Police reports

• KICKAPOO – A traffic stop near Kickapoo resulted in the arrest of a Wyoming, Ill., man accused of multiple illicit-drugs offenses.

Carl P. Porter, 45, was transported to the Peoria County Jail following the stop, which took place about 1:30 a.m. Dec. 22 in the 7000 block of N. Kickapoo-Edwards Rd.

According to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office, Porter did not use a turn signal when the 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix he was driving left the Freedom Oil station at Interstate 74 and Kickapoo-Edwards Road. A license-plate light also was not functioning.

Inside the vehicle, deputies found two bags of methamphetamine, two suspected ecstasy pills, two glass smoking pipes, two scales and a packet of cannabis, the report stated.

Porter was charged with meth possession, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was issued citations for operating an uninsured motor vehicle and a malfunctioning registration light. He also was wanted in Fulton, Logan and Tazewell counties.

Of three passengers in the vehicle, two were questioned and released. Charges against the third passenger, a 26-year-old woman, were pending based on Illinois State Police testing of the suspected ecstasy pills.

• FARMINGTON – A rural-Farmington residence sustained about $5,000 in damage after a Lacon man drove into it, according to authorities.

The incident happened about 2:45 a.m. Dec. 22 in the 22200 block of W. Smithville Rd. According to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report, the driver, 20-year-old Peyton G. Cordes, was found walking in the 400 block of S. Cramer Rd., almost 3 miles north of the accident site.

Cordes said he had been to a Peoria bar, then drove to a friend’s house and was driving home when the accident happened. Cordes called his mother, then his cellphone died and he began to walk because he was scared, the report stated.

The vehicle, a 2013 Chevrolet Impala, traveled through the intersection at Cramer and Smithville roads, through a yard, broke a plastic snow fence and struck the northwest exterior wall of a house. The house was unoccupied. The vehicle sustained damage to its hood, grille and front bumper.

Cordes was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, leaving the scene of an accident and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.

• CHILLICOTHE – An Edelstein woman was uninjured following a single-vehicle accident southwest of Chillicothe.

Kelsey A. Wakeland was driving a 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander around 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 26 in the 15100 block of N. Old Galena Rd. when the northbound vehicle hit black ice and went off the roadway, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated.

The vehicle struck a mailbox and continued into a ditch about 50 feet north. The driver’s-side front bumper was damaged and undercarriage pieces were broken.

• EDWARDS – A Peoria female was transported to a hospital following a single-vehicle accident east of Edwards.

About 6 p.m. Dec. 25, Savannah E. Bushman was driving a 2002 Honda CRV west in the 10900 block of Illinois Route 8 when the vehicle hit black ice, fishtailed, struck a power pole, rolled multiple times and came to rest on its side about 50 yards off the pavement, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated.
Bushman was taken to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, where she was treated for minor injuries. The vehicle was towed.

• OAK HILL – A single-vehicle accident east of Oak Hill resulted in no reported injuries but more than $1,500 in damage.

Shortly after 1 p.m. Dec. 24, Chris topher W. Moushon of East Peoria was driving a 2019 Ford Transit van in the 6200 block of N. Eden Rd. when the northbound vehicle traveled around a corner into an area covered with snow and slush.

Moushon lost control of the vehicle, which slid into a ditch and rolled onto its right side, per a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. Moushon declined medical treatment, but his vehicle was towed.

• KICKAPOO – A two-vehicle accident east of Kickapoo resulted in a minor injury to one of the drivers.
About 12:30 p.m. Dec. 17, Michael L. Stegmaier of Brimfield was driving a 2011 Lincoln Continental MKZ east on U.S. Route 150 at Ford Road when the vehicle rear-ended a 2020 Jeep Gladiator driven by Russell A. Clark of Elmwood, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.

Stegmaier said he was distracted by thinking about family issues and failed to notice Clark’s vehicle had slowed to turn. Stegmaier sustained a bloody nose and was transported to UnityPoint Health-Proctor in Peoria. His vehicle was towed.

• BARTONVILLE – A Trivoli man was cited in a two-vehicle accident in Limestone Township.

About 8:30 p.m. Dec. 7, Joel A. Cooper, 37, was driving a 2004 Toyota Prius south on Cameron Lane near Johnson Farm Road when it rear-ended a 2005 Buick sedan driven by Laura S. McCabe, 41, of Peoria. Her vehicle rolled about 75 feet into a ditch, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.

McCabe said she stopped to turn east into a driveway and Cooper said he was distracted by changing the radio station in his vehicle, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. Both drivers refused medical treatment. Both vehicles were towed.

Cooper received a citation for failure to reduce speed. McCabe received citations for driving on a revoked license and for operating an uninsured motor vehicle.

• PRINCEVILLE – A traffic stop in October in Princeville resulted in the arrest of a woman wanted for methamphetamine possession.

Deanna L. Fauser, 60, of Princeville was pulled over about 11 a.m. Oct. 12 for not using a turn signal, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report filed recently. A deputy discovered Fauser was wanted in Tazewell County.

Fauser also was cited for failure to signal, driving with a revoked license and operating a vehicle that had a suspended registration. According to Peoria County records, the revoked-license charge was reduced to time already served. The other two charges were dismissed.

In Tazewell County, Fauser was sentenced to 180 days in jail. She was released Dec. 3, according to the Tazewell County Circuit Clerk’s Office.

• KICKAPOO – At 4 p.m. Dec. 12, Carolyn M. Sobieski, 32, of Brimfield was driving a 2015 Toyota RV4 west on Interstate 74 near Kickapoo-Edwards Road when the vehicle struck a deer. Sobieski reported no injuries but the deer was killed, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office. The vehicle sustained front-end damage.

• VICTORIA – About 6:45 a.m. Dec. 11, Samuel R. Cain, 57, of Dahinda was driving a 2022 GMC Terrain south in the 2100 block of Knox Highway 15 near Victoria when the sport-utility vehicle struck a deer. Cain was uninjured, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report. The SUV sustained more than $1,500 in damage and was towed.

• DAHINDA – Shortly after 5:30 p.m. Dec. 5, James W. Segersten, 61, of Dahinda was driving a 2016 Toyota Highlander west in the 1800 block of U.S. Route 150 when the sport-utility vehicle struck a deer. The SUV’s passenger-side front bumper was damaged, a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report stated. No injuries were reported.

• EDWARDS – Eric C. Cuevas, 49, of Edwards was arrested about 10 a.m. Dec. 27 and accused of driving under the influence of alcohol, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.

• TRIVOLI – Erick C. Luncsford, 32, of Trivoli was arrested about 11:45 p.m. Dec. 21 and was held on a Fulton County warrant for failure to appear in court, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.

• PRINCEVILLE – Justin J. Juarez, 32, of Princeville was arrested about 11:30 a.m. Dec. 21 and accused of unlawful use of a credit or debit card and disorderly conduct, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.