The Weekly Post Public record for 11-23-23

NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Police reports
• KICKAPOO – An Edelstein woman was one of two people killed in a two-vehicle head-on crash east of Kickapoo. The accident happened about 6:30 p.m. Nov. 17 in the 9000 block of U.S. Route 150. Pamela Spencer, 76, sustained severe multiple blunt-force trauma injuries and died instantly, according to the Peoria County Coroner’s Office. So did Chester Lien, 67, of Macomb.

A witness said Spencer’s vehicle was westbound and attempting to pass another when it collided with Lien’s eastbound vehicle, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office. Lien and Spencer were alone in their vehicles and were wearing seat belts. Toxicology tests are pending.

Brimfield firefighters were among the respondents.

• FARMINGTON – A fire at a Farmington residence resulted in three burn victims being transported to hospitals.

The blaze began about 1:30 a.m. Nov. 16 in the 700 block of W. Fort St., according to the Farmington Community Fire Protection District. When firefighters arrived, the structure was engulfed in flames.

None of the injuries appeared life threatening, but one victim was transferred from OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria to a hospital burn unit in Rockford, according to the Farmington Police Department. The other two victims remained at St. Francis; one was treated and released. More information about them wasn’t available.
The fire cause is being investigated but foul play isn’t suspected, according to Matt Watters, Farmington fire chief. Copperas Creek, Elba-Salem, Elmwood and Logan-Trivoli firefighters also responded, as did Farmington police and the Fulton County Emergency Services Disaster Agency.

• CARTHAGE – A Yates City man pleaded not guilty to attempted-murder accusations, among others, after he was implicated last month in a Hancock County shooting.

Terry R. Lansford, 49, appeared in Hancock County Circuit Court during a preliminary hearing Nov. 9. A pre-trial hearing was scheduled for Dec. 4. He is being held without bond in the Hancock County Jail.
Lansford was charged with two counts of attempted murder in addition to charges of aggravated discharge of a firearm and of aggravated battery involving discharge of a firearm, according to court records.

The charges stem from an incident Oct. 14 at a residence east of Carthage, where a man sustained multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office.

• FARMINGTON – A Pekin man was arrested following a domestic dispute at a Farmington residence.

Travis L. Ralph, 38, was given a notice to appear Wednesday, Nov. 29, in Fulton County Circuit Court in connection with the incident, which happened about 10:45 p.m. Nov. 8 in the 100 block of S. Heaton St.
A 38-year-old woman told police Ralph screamed at her, struck her ear, threw a lit cigarette at her and shoved her out a door. A witness corroborated the victim’s account, according to a Farmington police report. An officer noted the victim’s right ear was red and there was a mark below it.

Ralph denied the accusations but at least twice declined to give police a statement, according to the report.

• ELMORE – A Knox County woman reported missing from a wedding celebration was found on foot at an intersection south of Elmore.
A Peoria County Sheriff’s Office deputy was dispatched about 11 p.m. Nov. 5 to the 22100 block of N. Spoon River Rd. There he was told the 54-year-old woman walked away following an argument with a family member. She had been missing for an hour and was feared lost.
The woman was wearing only a dress on a sub-freezing night, a sheriff’s-office report stated. A drone was activated for the search. A deputy located the woman at Nightingale and Elmore roads. She said she was OK, and a deputy transported her to her residence in Victoria.

• ELMWOOD – Morning sun blinded a Brimfield man who drove a passenger van into a one-way street sign and a residential mailbox in Elmwood, according to authorities.

Michael D. Smith was behind the wheel of a 2012 GMC Savana headed east at 6:40 a.m. Nov. 7 in the 300 block of W. Main St. when the vehicle veered north off the pavement and onto the sidewalk, according to an Elmwood Police Department report.

Smith said he couldn’t see where he was going. The accident resulted in less than $500 in damage. No injuries were reported, and the van was driveable. The crash happened a day before Smith’s 33rd birthday, according to the report.

• PRINCEVILLE – No injuries were reported in a hit-and-run accident in Princeville.

A Princeville woman saw an unidentified vehicle hit the driver’s-side rear fender of a 2023 Honda Accord parked about 10:30 a.m. Nov. 2 in the 300 block of S. Walnut Ave., according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. The other vehicle kept going. The Accord sustained disabling damage and was towed. The Accord owner was not in the vehicle at the time of the accident.

• ELMWOOD – A tortoiseshell cat apparently was stolen during a burglary at a residence in Elmwood. The incident happened late Nov. 11 or early Nov. 12 in the 300 block of E. Harrison St., according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office. Additional information was not available. The sheriff’s office cited an ongoing investigation in declining to release a report about the incident.

• ELMWOOD – At 4:30 a.m. Nov. 4, Johnathan M. Fox of Galesburg was driving a 2012 Ford Edge west in the 20000 block of Illinois Route 8 east of Elmwood when the vehicle struck a deer. Fox’s passenger, a male, complained of minor hip pain, and an ambulance transported him to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria. Fox was not injured, per a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. His vehicle was towed after its front bumper detached and its grille caved.

• TRIVOLI – About 6:30 a.m. Nov. 1, Christopher R. Franklin of Canton was driving a 2014 Jeep Cherokee east in the 17800 block of W. Smithville Rd. south of Trivoli when the vehicle struck a deer. Franklin said he was uninjured, per a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. The vehicle sustained damage but was drivable.

• OAK RUN – Shortly before 9:30 a.m. Nov. 1, Nathan C. Dieckow, 41, of Dahinda was driving a westbound 2015 Nissan Rouge in the 1200 block of Knox Highway 7 west of Oak Run when his vehicle struck a deer. Dieckow said he wasn’t injured, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report. The vehicle sustained more than $1,500 in damage and was towed. The deer died on impact.

• TRIVOLI – About 8:45 p.m. Oct. 30, Marita J. Tuggle of Hanna City was driving a 2017 Ford F-150 Platinum pickup truck south in the 1200 block of N. Fisher Rd. east of Trivoli when the vehicle struck a deer. Tuggle said she was uninjured, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated. The vehicle sustained front-end damage but was drivable. A deputy dispatched the deer.

• HANNA CITY – Shortly after 8:30 p.m. Oct. 29, Jessica M. Guymon of Hanna City was driving a northbound 2021 GMC sport-utility vehicle in the 4500 block of N. Taylor Rd. when the SUV struck a deer. Guymon said she wasn’t injured, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. The vehicle’s grille was cracked.

• MONICA – Shortly before 10:45 p.m. Oct. 28, Martha L. Stillson of Farmington was driving a westbound 2019 Ford Taurus in the 14500 block of Illinois Route 90 when the vehicle struck a deer. Stillson declined medical attention, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. The vehicle’s driver’s-side front bumper, headlight and hood were damaged, but Stillson was able to drive away.

• EDELSTEIN – Kyra D. Comer, 25, of Edelstein was arrested at 2:15 a.m. Nov. 12 and accused of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, criminal trespass to a building and resisting a peace officer, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.

• BRIMFIELD – Ryan L. Jackson, 21, of Brimfield was arrested at 12:45 p.m. Nov. 12 and accused of failure to appear in court, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.

• GALESBURG – These were among calls to which the Knox County Sheriff’s Office responded between Nov. 5-11: theft, Dahinda; juvenile trouble, Yates City; driving complaint, Galva; unwanted subject, Yates City; other-animal complaint, Yates City; battery, Williamsfield; suspicious incident, Williamsfield; two stray-dog reports, Dahinda; hot smell, Oak Run; other-animal complaint, Dahinda; other fire, Oak Run.