The Weekly Post public record for 2-1-24

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

Police reports
• BELLEVUE – A Farmington man was arrested following a domestic dispute inside a disabled vehicle west of Bellevue. Illicit drugs also were found, according to authorities.

Shortly after 10:30 p.m. Jan. 18, the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to Illinois Route 116 and Tanager Drive regarding a vehicle in a ditch. A female was reported to possibly be fighting with someone in the vehicle. A dispatcher said someone could be heard saying “Don’t hit me again.”

While en route, a deputy was told a male left the scene, according to a heavily redacted sheriff’s-office report. The deputy found Sean R. Holton, 38, knocking on the door of a Tanager Drive residence. He was taken into custody shortly before 11:30 p.m. and transported to the Peoria County Jail.

Holton was accused of domestic battery/bodily harm, unlawful possession of less than 5 grams of methamphetamine, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, unlawful possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of firearm ammunition without a FOID card.

An ambulance transported someone to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, although additional information was redacted from the report. A 57-year-old Farmington man was listed as a victim. The vehicle, a 2021 Nissan Murano, was towed.

• HANNA CITY – Damage from a barn fire south of Hanna City was estimated at $300,000.

Firefighters were summoned about 9:30 a.m. Jan. 24 to the 12200 block of W. Smithville Rd. A building directly north of a residence was engulfed in flames, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. A passerby notified the 89-year-old homeowners about the fire.

No people or livestock were in the building, but it did contain all-terrain vehicles, tractors, farm equipment, fuel and oil.

The building was a total loss, according to the report. A fire cause hadn’t been determined. Firefighters from the Bartonville, Elmwood, Farmington, Limestone, Logan-Trivoli, Peoria Air Guard and Timber-Hollis departments responded.

• MAPLETON – A Hanna City man sustained a broken thigh and was one of three people injured in a head-on crash north of Mapleton.
Layne C. Brown was driving an eastbound 2007 Chevrolet Impala shortly after 6 p.m. Jan. 22 in the 9200 block of W. Smithville Rd. when he lost control of the vehicle as it slid on ice, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.

Brown’s vehicle collided with a westbound 2015 Impala driven by Graham J. Dillon of Manito. Logan-Trivoli fire-department personnel had to remove vehicle doors and part of the frame to extricate Dillon’s passenger, who appeared to have an injured right leg, the report stated.

The passenger was transported to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, as were Dillon and Brown. Dillon complained about back pain and said one of his fingers probably was broken. Vehicles were towed.
Brown was cited for driving too fast for conditions. The pavement was a sheet of ice, according to a deputy, and was closed for about an hour until road salt was applied.

• PRINCEVILLE – A pickup truck that carried two people rolled multiple times after it slid off a snowy road east of Princeville.

Maria T. Pequeno was driving a southbound 2012 GMC Sierra about 8:45 a.m. Jan. 20 in the 19300 block of Illinois Route 91 when she slowed to 40 mph because of the snow, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated. She lost control of the vehicle, which veered off the road to the east.

Pequeno was uninjured, according to the report. Her male passenger said his right arm and right side of his face hurt, but he refused medical treatment. The pickup-truck owner arrived, pulled the dented vehicle out of the snow and drove it away.

• KICKAPOO – A two-vehicle crash north of Kickapoo resulted in a minor injury to one driver. The accident happened about 10:30 a.m. Jan. 16 at Grange Hall and Voorhees roads, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.

Fredrick E. Higgs of Brimfield was driving a 2010 Ford F-150 pickup truck east on Grange Hall Road when he pulled onto Voorhees Road to make a U-turn. In the process, Higgs’ vehicle collided with a 2017 Nissan Altima headed east on Grange Hall Road. The other driver was Kierra M. Johnson of Brimfield.

Higgs complained about neck pain but refused medical attention, the report stated. Johnson was uninjured. Both vehicles sustained substantial front-end damage and were towed.

• ELMWOOD – A damaged vehicle was found abandoned in a ditch along a road south of Elmwood.

Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputies were summoned about 12:15 a.m. Jan. 15 to the 400 block of Illinois Route 78. There they found an unoccupied 2022 blue Tesla sedan that appeared to have struck a utility pole, which was damaged. The vehicle sustained rear passenger-side damage and was towed.

The vehicle was registered to a Chillicothe man, a report stated. Chillicothe police tried to contact him, to no immediate avail.

• OAK RUN – A Dahinda man appeared to avoid significant injury from a single-vehicle accident south of Oak Run. Benjamin J. Dolinsek, 30, was driving a southbound 2014 Jeep Latitude about 9:45 a.m. Jan. 15 on Knox Highway 12 at Knox Road 1550 North when he was unable to maintain control on an icy curve, a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report stated.

The vehicle slid into a west-side ditch, rolled, went through a fence and came to rest on its driver’s side against a tree. Dolinsek climbed out of the vehicle before first responders arrived, then declined medical treatment. The vehicle was to be towed.

• KICKAPOO – Drivers from Peoria declined medical attention following a two-vehicle accident east of Kickapoo. About 1:30 p.m. Jan. 8, Adrianna L. Goss was driving a westbound 2009 Ford Focus on U.S. Route 150 when she attempted a U-turn at Ford Road. A 2013 Ford Fusion traveling behind the Focus then struck its driver’s side, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.

The Fusion driver was Samuel P. Franklin, who said he was unable to avoid the accident. Each vehicle had one passenger, and both declined medical treatment. Both vehicles were towed.

• HANNA CITY – Shortly after 6:30 p.m. Jan. 11, Larry A.A. Latimer of Canton was driving a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado south on Taylor Road at Ashbury Court north of Hanna City when the vehicle struck a deer. Latimer drove away the vehicle. The impact killed the deer.

• ELMWOOD – Dalton L. Sander, 18, of Elmwood was arrested about 8:15 p.m. Jan. 26 and accused of domestic battery/physical contact, aggravated battery and disorderly conduct, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.

• PRINCEVILLE – Cormac W. Flanagan, 50, of Princeville was arrested at 10:45 a.m. Jan. 21 and accused of driving under the influence of alcohol, illegal transportation/ carry of alcohol by a driver and illegal stopping/standing/parking, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.

• GALESBURG – These were among calls to which the Knox County Sheriff’s Office responded between Jan. 14-20: burglar alarm, Williamsfield; abandoned vehicle, Yates City; juvenile trouble, Yates City; suspicious incident, Happy Hollow.