NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Police reports
• KICKAPOO – An employee of a Kickapoo-area gasoline station was accused of stealing $190 in Illinois Lottery tickets from it.
Matthew D. Ayers, 29, of Pekin was arrested regarding an incident that took place sometime before 9:30 a.m. Nov. 14 at Freedom Oil, 7200 N. Kickapoo-Edwards Rd. Missing were $100 in Cashfall instant tickets and $90 in Super Bonus instant tickets, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated.
Ayers was charged with two counts of theft and transported to the Peoria County Jail. In a separate case, he also was accused of failure to register as a sex offender.
• EDELSTEIN – A vehicle-train collision southwest of Edelstein resulted in two people transported to a hospital.
The crash occurred about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday on Illinois Route 90 near Anderson Road, according to the Illinois State Police. Injuries the vehicle driver and passenger sustained appeared to be non-life threatening, according to Peoria County Sheriff Chris Watkins.
Route 90 in that area was expected to be closed for at least two hours.
• KICKAPOO – A Princeville woman required a hospital visit following a single-vehicle accident north of Kickapoo.
Shortly before 10:15 a.m. Nov. 12, Stacy R. Mueller was driving a 2012 Chevrolet Traverse sport-utility vehicle south on Princeville-Jubilee Road at Beauview Drive when she lost control of the SUV on gravel.
Mueller overcorrected and the vehicle slid into a ditch and flipped, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated. Mueller didn’t note possible injuries, but an ambulance transported her to Carle Health Methodist Hospital in Peoria for evaluation. The vehicle sustained significant damage and was towed.
• TRIVOLI – A 16-year-old Galesburg girl was accused of drunken driving following a single-vehicle wreck south of Trivoli. She did not have a driver’s license.
Shortly after 7:15 a.m. Nov. 7, the girl was driving a 2018 Ford Taurus west in the 16900 block of W. Smithville Rd. when the vehicle left the pavement to the north, hit a grassy embankment, became airborne and landed in a ditch, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.
A witness said she did not see the accident but did see the girl asleep in the driver’s seat afterward. The witness knocked on the window and the girl awakened. The girl admitted to drinking alcohol, the report stated. The lack of a driver’s license is considered a petty offense.
The girl sustained a right-forearm bruise, a forehead hematoma and abrasions from her shoulder to her stomach. An ambulance transported her to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria. The vehicle sustained major damage to its front and rear and was towed.
• DOUGLAS – A man brandishing a large, pirate-style sword outside his Douglas residence was to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
The incident happened about 10:15 a.m. Nov. 4 in the 400 block of Third St., according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report. A relative notified the sheriff’s office after she had been unable to reach the 28-year-old man by telephone.
After deputies and the relative arrived, the man swung the sword forcefully against a metal handrail outside the residence. A small dent in the front bumper of the man’s Chevrolet Blazer was attributed to a minor traffic accident the previous night in Oak Hill.
BYE Ambulance transported the man to an unspecified Peoria hospital. The Illinois State Police affirmed a clear-and-present-danger restriction against the man.
• WILLIAMSFIELD – A Dahinda-area man stopped for speeding south of Williamsfield also had a revoked driver’s license, according to authorities.
Shortly before 8:15 a.m. Nov. 4, Joseph C. Smith, 35, was driving an eastbound 2008 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck that was traveling 70 mph in a 55-mph zone in the 2200 block of U.S. Route 150, a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report stated.
After a deputy gave chase, the pickup truck stopped on the shoulder and Smith moved to the back seat. The front-seat passenger, a 42-year-old Dahinda-area man, moved to the driver’s seat. Smith said they changed seats because he knew it was a felony to drive on a revoked license, the report stated.
Smith is to appear Wednesday, Dec. 4, in Knox County Circuit Court in Galesburg regarding the revoked-license charge. He also was cited for careless driving and transported to the Knox County Jail in Galesburg.
• FARMINGTON – A Farmington man who was kicked out of a local tavern also had an outstanding arrest warrant. Shortly after 8 p.m. Oct. 31, Farmington police responded to The Nickel Plate, 18 W. Fort St., regarding an intoxicated man beating on the back door to be let in after he had been expelled, according to a report.
A check revealed the man, 41-year-old Robert J. Rook, was wanted in Fulton County for failure to appear in court, on payable bond of $2,500. Rook was transported to the Fulton County Jail in Lewistown, where his blood-alcohol content was measured at .352. The legal limit is 08.
Rook then was transported to Graham Hospital in Canton for medical evaluation after jail personnel refused to accept him. Following the evaluation, Rook was returned to jail.
• PEORIA HEIGHTS – An Elmwood man was arrested about two weeks after he apparently was involved in a domestic dispute in Peoria Heights.
A woman who resides in the 4000 block of N. Illinois Ave. said 27-year-old Christopher R. Coulter confronted her about 7:30 a.m. Oct. 31 in the parking lot of her apartment building. The woman had filed an order of protection against Coulter, per a Heights Police Department report.
Coulter banged on the woman’s door when she went inside and threw something at a window, then drove away, according to the report. A Heights officer followed Coulter as he weaved through the north side of Peoria at high speed. Eventually, the officer lost sight of the vehicle.
According to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office, Coulter was taken into custody about 10:45 a.m. Nov. 13 at an unspecified location. He was accused of fleeing/attempting to elude an officer, reckless driving and violating an order of protection.
• ELMWOOD – Shortly before 11:45 p.m. Oct. 31, a 17-year-old Fairview boy was driving a southbound 2011 Ford F-250 pickup truck on Illinois Route 78 west of Elmwood when the vehicle struck a deer. Neither the driver nor his passenger, 49-year-old Randall J. Hartstirn of Fairview, was injured, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report. The vehicle was damaged beyond drivability and was towed. The impact killed the deer.
• OAK RUN – Shortly after 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29, Dane M. Hennenfent, 19, of Gilson was driving a 2005 Jeep Laredo north in the 1400 block of Knox Highway 12 south of Oak Run when the vehicle struck a deer. No injuries were listed on a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report. The vehicle sustained disabling damage to its left front end.
• PRINCEVILLE – Sonya S. Schrader, 47, of Princeville was arrested shortly before 10:15 p.m. Nov. 18 and accused of domestic battery/bodily harm, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.
• WILLIAMSFIELD – Chief James Robertson reported the following Williamsfield Police Department activity for October: one driving complaint and one speeding citation.
• YATES CITY – Chief Randy Benson reported the following Yates City Police Department activity for October: 11 reports, six traffic stops, one citation, six warnings and two open doors.
• GALESBURG – These were among calls to which the Knox County Sheriff’s Office responded between Nov. 3-9: domestic dispute, Dahinda; suspicious incident, Galva; animal in roadway, Williamsfield; automobile theft, Dahinda; fraud, Dahinda; custody dispute, Dahinda; suspicious incident, Dahinda.
