The Weekly Post public record for 2-15-24

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

Police reports
• DAHINDA – An Elmwood man avoided injury after his vehicle slid off an icy road south of Dahinda and caught fire.

A Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputy was summoned about 1:30 a.m. Jan. 18 to the 1700 block of Knox Highway 17, where he found ablaze a tan 2004 Dodge Dakota pickup truck. The vehicle was off the road, in a snow-filled ditch. The driver, 20-year-old Clayton M. Moechnig, was nearby.

Moechnig said he was driving on Knox Road 1700 East about an hour earlier when he lost control of the truck and it slid into a snowbank. In attempting to extricate the truck, Moechnig revved the engine so much the radiator overheated, according to a sheriff’s-office report.

After Moechnig was able to drive the vehicle out of the snow, he lost control of it again, this time on an icy curve. The vehicle caught fire after it slid into the ditch. Knoxville firefighters extinguished the flames.

The vehicle was a total loss. It belonged to Moechnig’s girlfriend, a 20-year-old Yates City woman. Moechnig was cited for driving too fast for conditions.

• ELMWOOD – A vehicle struck another one parked in downtown Elmwood, according to authorities.

The accident was reported in the 100 block of N. Magnolia St., a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated. The owner of a 2022 Chevrolet sedan said she was leaving a baby shower about 2:30 p.m. Feb. 4 at a banquet hall when she noticed damage to her vehicle.

A sheriff’s-office deputy noted moderate damage to the Chevy’s front and rear driver’s-side doors. No suspect information was available, nor was identification regarding the other vehicle.

• ELMWOOD – A two-vehicle collision in Elmwood resulted in no injuries.

Jennifer L. Bliss of Elmwood was backing a 2011 Chevrolet Equinox out of a driveway about 8 a.m. Feb. 2 in the 200 block of S. Turtle Creek Drive when her vehicle struck a northbound 2016 Kia Optima, according to an Elmwood Police Department report. Nicole A. Bouchez of Elmwood was the other driver.

Bouchez said she was looking down, not ahead, and did not notice Bliss’ vehicle in the road. Bliss had one passenger, a 4-year-old in a car seat. Vehicle damage was not specified but was listed at more than $1,500.

• ELMWOOD – A Chillicothe man was cited for traffic violations after his damaged vehicle was found abandoned along a road south of Elmwood.

Brandon M. Fogelmark, 24, said he was driving a 2022 Tesla sedan north in the 400 block of Illinois Route 78 about 12:15 a.m. Jan. 15 when he lost control of the vehicle, which landed in a ditch. The vehicle sustained rear passenger-side quarter-panel damage and a broken windshield.

Fogelmark left the scene and could not be located immediately, according to Knox County Sheriff’s Office reports. Eventually, Fogelmark reported no injuries. He was accused of driving too fast for conditions and failure to report an accident. Fogelmark is to appear Feb. 28 in Knox County Circuit Court in Galesburg.

• KICKAPOO – Neither a Brimfield driver nor her passenger reported injuries from a two-vehicle wreck east of Kickapoo.

Jennie L. Huska was driving an eastbound 2007 Honda Civic about 6:45 p.m. Jan. 24 on U.S. Route 150 at Heinz Lane when it collided with a 2019 Chevrolet Equinox driven by Sydney N. Vandergraft of Marquette Heights, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated.

Vandergraft said she was driving west on Route 150 and attempting a left turn onto Heinz Lane but didn’t see Huska’s vehicle approaching. Huska said she saw Vandergraft’s vehicle turn in front of her but couldn’t stop in time. Her female passenger corroborated. Vandergraft reported no injuries.

The passenger side of Vandergraft’s vehicle and the front end of Huska’s vehicle sustained significant damage and were towed, according to the report. Brimfield fire-department personnel responded.

• ELMWOOD – A police visit to an Elmwood residence regarding a domestic dispute resulted in a woman’s arrest on an unrelated charge. Tekayla R. Wilkins-Fenderson, 24, was accused of failure to appear in Peoria County Circuit Court for a traffic violation, according to an Elmwood Police Department report.

Police discovered that warrant and another against Wilkins-Fenderson in Iowa. The Iowa warrant was not valid in Illinois.

Officers were summoned about 8:15 a.m. Feb. 5 to the 200 block of N. Knox St. No other arrests were made, nor charges filed.

• PRINCEVILLE – At 2:30 a.m. Feb. 3, Marcela Weller of Princeville was driving a 2011 BMW X5 south in the 15200 block of N. Princeville-Jubilee Rd. when the vehicle struck a deer that emerged from the west. Weller was not injured, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. She was able to drive the vehicle, which sustained a damaged front bumper and passenger-side headlight.

• WILLIAMSFIELD – At 5:30 p.m. Feb. 3, Lindsey M. Mackie, 33, of Galva was driving a northbound 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe in the 1800 block of Knox Highway 28 north of Williamsfield when the vehicle struck a deer that emerged from the west. Mackie was uninjured, a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report stated. She was able to drive the vehicle, which sustained damage to its driver’s-side fender and bumper.

• OAK RUN – About 10:15 p.m. Jan. 23, Samantha J. Sharp, 40, of Dahinda was driving a 2024 Buick Encore east in the 1300 block of U.S. Route 150 south of Oak Run when the vehicle struck a deer that emerged from the south. Sharp was uninjured, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report. She was able to drive the vehicle, which sustained front driver’s-side damage near the headlight and wheel.

• OAK RUN – Shortly before 5:30 p.m. Jan. 1, Gary G. Goudie, 76, of Knoxville was driving a 1999 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck west in the 1300 block of U.S. Route 150 south of Oak Run when the vehicle struck a deer. A Knox County Sheriff’s Office report did not specify if Goudie was injured. The vehicle sustained damage to its grille, headlights, hood and cooling system and was towed. The impact killed the deer.

• ELMWOOD – Chief Aaron Bean reported the following Elmwood Police Department activity for January: one arrest, 13 stops, 15 warnings, eight reports and one ordinance violation.

• WILLIAMSFIELD – Chief James Robertson reported the following Williamsfield Police Department activity for January: one speeding citation, one disobeyed-stop-sign citation, one other citation and nine warnings.

• GALESBURG – These were among calls to which the Knox County Sheriff’s Office responded between Jan. 28-Feb. 3: damage, Happy Hollow; suspicious incident, Oak Run; disturbance, Yates City.