NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Police reports
• FARMINGTON – A Canton man who was shot to death New Year’s Eve in Lewistown was a former Farmington firefighter.
Levi Blair, 39, was a member of the Farmington Community Fire Protection District until he moved out of its boundaries, according to the department. Blair was shot in the head about 7 p.m. Dec. 31 outside County Market in Lewistown.
An Ipava man, 33-year-old Nicholas D. Pratt, is accused of Blair’s murder. The shooting happened during a child-custody exchange, according to media reports.
“Levi was a great EMT and firefighter for us,” a Farmington-department Facebook post stated.
Blair’s funeral was scheduled for Wednesday (Jan. 8) in Heyworth. He also was a paramedic for the Fulton County Emergency Medical Association in Canton.
• FARMINGTON – A Farmington high school student was accused of shooting a peer in the face with an airsoft rifle. The incident happened about 6 p.m. Dec. 16 in the parking lot of the school. The 17-year-old male victim said he was walking into the school for a band concert when Aidan E. Helle, 18, called him to Helle’s vehicle, according to a Farmington police report.
Helle then retrieved the BB-type gun from the back seat and shot the victim from about 5 or 6 feet, the report stated. The victim was injured under his right eye. A bloodied BB was recovered from the lot.
Helle was accused of aggravated battery/great bodily harm or permanent disability or disfigurement. Helle is to appear Jan. 29 in Peoria County Circuit Court.
• DAHINDA – A Williamsfield woman was accused of drunken driving as the result of a two-vehicle head-on accident south of Dahinda.
Laura K. Demuth, 62, was behind the wheel of a westbound 2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer about 6 p.m. Dec. 23 in the 1900 block of U.S. Route 150 when the vehicle left the pavement and struck a 2024 Chevy Equinox parked on the south side of the road.
Tammy L. Stevens, 61, of Dahinda was the other driver, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report. Stevens said she was retrieving her mail. Demuth’s blood-alcohol content was .124. The legal limit is .08.
Demuth was transported to the Knox County Jail in Galesburg. She was charged with two counts of driving under the influence of alcohol and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. Demuth is to appear Jan. 29 in Knox County Circuit Court in Galesburg.
An ambulance carried Stevens to OSF Saint Mary Medical Center in Galesburg after she complained about foot pain. Both vehicles sustained disabling front-end damage and were towed. There also were six mailboxes damaged.
• FARMINGTON – The cause of a grass fire near solar panels at the Farmington School District campus was undetermined, authorities said.
The incident was reported about 12:30 p.m. Dec. 22, according to Matt Watters, chief of the Farmington Community Fire Protection District. The solar panels are located behind the football field. No injuries were reported.
Structural damage to the solar array wasn’t apparent, according to Farmington Superintendent Zac Chatterton. The company that owns the solar panels was expected to assess the situation. Firefighters from the Elba-Salem, Elmwood and Logan-Trivoli departments also responded.
• HANNA CITY – An East Peoria woman was arrested at a Hanna City bar after she threatened someone, authorities stated. Lexia M. Gumm, 22, was transported to the Peoria County Jail about 2 a.m. Dec. 22 after sheriff’s-office deputies arrived at Refuel, 12910 W. Farmington Rd. Gumm was accused of assault and disorderly conduct, according to a redacted sheriff’s-office report. Gumm also was wanted in Peoria, Stark and Tazewell counties for failure to appear in court regarding allegations of driving with a suspended license.
• YATES CITY – A Yates City man was accused of beating a woman who tried to elude him by leaping out a window at their residence, authorities stated.
Kendric D. Dailey, 27, was arrested in connection with incidents reported about 7 a.m. Dec. 22 in the 300 block of S. Dixon St. Broken glass and furniture were found inside the residence, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report. Elba-Salem firefighters also responded.
The 24-year-old victim said she grabbed a knife after she and Dailey argued, then she jumped from a bedroom window about 7 feet above the ground. She had bruises on her left temple, her left shoulder and both biceps, which she said were from another confrontation with Dailey a few days earlier.
An ambulance transported the victim, who sustained a right-ankle injury from the leap, to Graham Hospital in Canton. Also taken there were a 4-year-old girl and a 1-year-old boy, the report stated. Dailey was transported to the Knox County Jail in Galesburg and charged with domestic battery.
• YATES CITY – A Yates City-area woman reported a suspicious person knocked on the door of her residence about 6:15 p.m. Dec. 19 in the 1900 block of Illinois Route 8, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report. A deputy reviewed video-surveillance footage of a 6-foot-tall man wearing a yellow jacket. He appeared to have a weapon in his hand, the report stated.
The suspect departed in a dark-colored sport-utility vehicle. The victim requested additional patrols during the day, when she is home alone.
• WILLIAMSFIELD – Someone applied for and received an unauthorized credit card under the Village of Williamsfield’s name, according to authorities. Village President Robert Johnson reported the incident to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 18, a report stated. The village received a Lowe’s Home Improvement credit card for which it had not applied.
Lowe’s told Johnson the applicant created an account online on Dec. 10. The applicant is a former village employee, according to Johnson, who wanted to press charges.
• ELMWOOD – Noah K. Latham, 24, of Elmwood was arrested shortly after 5:15 p.m. Dec. 26 and was being held for another law-enforcement agency, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.
• PRINCEVILLE – Following a hit-and-run traffic accident, a Princeville woman said she wasn’t injured.
Shortly before 8 a.m. Dec. 17, Taylor Burgess was driving a northbound 2019 Subaru Crosstrek sport-utility vehicle in the 400 block of N. Town Ave. when another unidentified vehicle tried to pass it. That vehicle clipped the SUV and did not stop, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.
A deputy visited nearby Princeville Grade School in an in-vain attempt to locate the vehicle, either there or on school surveillance cameras.
• TOULON – A traffic stop for speeding resulted in a Princeville woman being cited for other offenses. Ana Maria Gabriela Fortuno-Rojas, 33, was pulled over Dec. 14 for driving 72 mph in a 55-mph zone, according to the Stark County Sheriff’s Office.
In addition to speeding, Fortuno-Rojas was accused of driving without a valid license, driving with no vehicle insurance and failure to secure registration upon ownership.
• EDWARDS – A single-vehicle accident south of Edwards resulted in no apparent injuries. Michael W. Perry of Hanna City was driving a southbound 2004 Ford F-150 pickup truck at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 12 in the 4000 block of N. Taylor Rd. when another vehicle passed his and caused it to swerve, he told a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office deputy.
Perry’s vehicle spun off the roadway to the right and struck a bus-stop sign. The vehicle was towed.
• GALESBURG – These were among calls to which the Knox County Sheriff’s Office responded between Dec. 15-21: suspicious person, Yates City; theft, Williamsfield; suspicious person, Dahinda; fraud, Williamsfield; theft, Yates City; juvenile trouble, Williamsfield; civil dispute, Galva.
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