NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Police reports
• YATES CITY – A Yates City man was accused of numerous crimes in Peoria and Knox counties, including forgery and theft.
Zachary R. Cassel, 33, was arrested Nov. 1 at a residence in Yates City, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report. He was wanted on Knox County warrants for forgery and theft, and Peoria County warrants for retail theft, driving with a suspended license and improper turn-signal use.
The Peoria County charges are related to incidents that took place in August and involved forged checks. Peoria Police Department reports indicate at least $8,000 was involved. Cassel told police he cashed the checks on behalf of someone else.
Cassel received notices to appear in Peoria County Circuit Court.
• DOUGLAS – Authorities deemed suspicious a garage fire in Douglas. The detached garage in the 500 block of Third St. burned to the ground sometime before 8 p.m. Oct. 31, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report. The garage was not connected to a source of electricity.
Neighbors said their dog began to act strangely about 7:30 p.m., but they thought nothing of it. Security video revealed only the glow of the fire. The neighbors said there had been suspicious activity at the garage, and a camper was set on fire intentionally on the property about two years earlier.
A deputy was unable to immediately contact the owners, who reside in Yates City. Elba-Salem firefighters also responded.
• PEORIA – A Brimfield-area man was arrested following a hit-and-run accident in Peoria.
Witnesses said Zachary D. Beintema, 40, was driving a southbound 2011 Chrysler minivan on Knoxville Avenue that struck a white automobile shortly after 5:15 p.m. Oct. 29 at War Memorial Drive, a Peoria police report stated. The report did not further identify the other vehicle.
Beintema continued south on Knoxville Avenue and abandoned the minivan in the 300 block of E. Odell Place, where he was taken into custody at 6 p.m. He was accused of leaving the scene of an accident and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, then was transported to the Peoria County Jail.
• WILLIAMSFIELD – A Wisconsin man who was driving erratically north of Williamsfield had been behind the wheel almost 40 consecutive hours, according to authorities.
A Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputy observed the 70-year-old Milwaukeean driving south at 17 mph in a 55-mph zone shortly after 2:30 a.m. Oct. 29 in the 1900 block of Illinois Route 180. He said he had left a friend’s house in Chicago and was driving home, according to a sheriff’s-office report.
A timer on the dashboard indicated the man had been driving for 39 hours, 45 minutes. BYE Ambulance Service personnel suggested the man be checked at OSF Saint Mary Medical Center in Galesburg, where he agreed to be admitted for evaluation.
• KICKAPOO – An Elmwood man’s vehicle spun on wet pavement west of Kickapoo and crashed into a utility pole.
Jonathan T. Woodcock was driving a 1999 Ford F-350 pickup truck shortly before 10:30 p.m. Oct. 28 in the 13100 block of W. Schlink Rd. when he lost control in the rain, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. Woodcock said the vehicle’s tires were almost bald.
The vehicle left the pavement and struck the Ameren Illinois pole, which damaged the front driver’s side. Ameren removed the pole.
• EDWARDS – Following a single-vehicle wreck west of Edwards, a Peoria man reported no injuries.
Robin J. Wallenfang was driving an eastbound 2005 Ford Focus shortly before 7:45 p.m. Oct. 28 on Cottonwood Road near Old Murphy Road when he did not see a curve, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. The vehicle left the pavement and came to rest in a field.
The vehicle was towed.
• PRINCEVILLE – No injuries were reported following a two-vehicle crash at the east edge of Princeville. Shortly before 2 p.m. Oct. 28, a 16-year-old Princeville girl was driving a 2013 Ford Escape sport-utility vehicle east in the 9400 block of Illinois Route 90 when the SUV rear-ended a 2024 Cadillac XT4 SUV, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.
The other driver, Thomas E. Martin of Princeville, said he had slowed behind another vehicle, which was trailing a farm tractor. The girl said she didn’t see the other vehicles in time.
Both vehicles were drivable, although they sustained bumper and fender damage. A deputy gave the girl a verbal warning about failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.
• HANNA CITY – A Peoria man was accused of damaging property at a residence west of Hanna City.
Brailyn P. Youmans, 25, was arrested about five hours after the incident, which was shortly after 6 a.m. Oct. 20 in the 14700 block of Illinois Route 116, per a heavily redacted Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. The victim was a 21-year-old woman.
Youmans was charged with criminal damage to property and criminal trespass to a residence and was transported to the Peoria County Jail.
• EDWARDS – Shortly after 7 a.m. Oct. 31, Melissa A. Easley-Postin of Mapleton was driving an eastbound 2012 Honda Civic on Illinois Route 8 west of Heinz Lane when the vehicle struck a deer that emerged from the north. Easley-Postin said she wasn’t injured, per a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. The vehicle sustained front-hood and grille damage and was towed. The impact killed the deer.
• HANNA CITY – Shortly before 7 p.m. Oct. 29, Brad M. Wight of Peoria was driving an eastbound 2016 Chevrolet Cruze in the 9900 block of W. Riekena Rd. south of Hanna City when the vehicle struck a deer that emerged from the north. Wight was uninjured, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated. The vehicle sustained a dislocated driver’s-side fender and minor hood damage but was drivable.
• EDWARDS – Shortly before 10:30 p.m. Oct. 26, Anthony J. Koller of Princeville was driving a 2017 Ram truck north in the 2400 block of Taylor Rd. south of Edwards when the vehicle struck a deer. Koller said he wasn’t injured, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated. The vehicle sustained front-end damage but was drivable.
• PRINCEVILLE – Tyler M. Hall, 31, of Princeville was arrested shortly after 1:45 p.m. Nov. 10 and accused of two counts 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. 2-8: grass fire, LaFayette; threats, Yates City; missing juvenile, Williamsfield; domestic dispute, Williamsfield; suspicious incident, Galva; suspicious incident, Dahinda; road hazard, Williamsfield.
