NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Jury trial scheduled
for Hanna City man
• PEORIA – A jury trial has been scheduled for a Hanna City man implicated in a three-vehicle crash in January that killed a Peoria woman.
Jeremy E. Perry, 43, pleaded not guilty last week in Peoria County Circuit Court after a grand jury indicted him on three counts of aggravated driving under the influence and one count of driving on a revoked license.
A trial in front of Judge John Vespa was set for April 24. If convicted, Perry faces up to 14 years in prison.
Perry is accused of having methamphetamine in his system while he drove a 2002 Buick involved in the collision Jan. 15 at U.S Route 150 and Trigger Road at the northwest edge of Peoria. The head-on crash killed 43-year-old Miriam Schmid. A boy and the driver of another vehicle were injured, as was Perry.
The collision ended a chase that began shortly after 10 a.m. that Sunday at the Freedom Oil station at 7200 N. Kickapoo-Edwards Rd. Peoria County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called there after two people were reported unresponsive inside a vehicle parked at the gas pumps.
The sheriff’s office has yet to release reports about the incident.
Police reports
• KICKAPOO – An employee of a Kickapoo gasoline station was accused of stealing $700 from it. The employee denied the accusation.
A Peoria County Sheriff’s Office deputy was summoned about noon Feb. 16 to Freedom Oil, 7200 N. Kickapoo-Edwards Rd. There the manager showed security-camera footage of the suspect counting money to be deposited at a bank.
Only $1,690 of an intended $2,390 was deposited, according to a sheriff’s-office report. Stacks of money normally were in sets of $500, but one set as seen in the video was $700. All the money in the video appeared to be placed in a deposit bag, and none appeared to be removed.
The accused employee took the bag of money to the bank. She said she didn’t steal any of it and had no idea what might have happened. The manager fired her, the report stated.
• KICKAPOO – Catalytic converters were reported stolen from a Kickapoo auto-repair business. The incidents happened around Jan. 20 at Changin’ Gears Garage, 7814 N. Kickapoo-Edwards Rd.
Security video revealed a white Dodge pickup truck with a black brush guard and blue lettering on the bed entered the lot shortly after 1 a.m. and left about 1:15 a.m. two nights in a row.
Despite repeated requests, the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office has not released full reports on these incidents, citing a continuing investigation.
• EDWARDS – Shortly before 6:30 a.m. Feb. 5, Pamela J. Thornton of Brimfield was driving a 2009 Ford Taurus in the 2500 block of N. Taylor Rd. near Edwards when the vehicle struck a deer. No injuries were reported. The Taurus was towed after it slid into a ditch and sustained front and passenger-side damage.
• BRIMFIELD – Joshua P. Christensen, 35, of Brimfield was arrested at 6:30 a.m. Feb. 20 and accused of criminal damage to property between $500 and $10,000, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.
• HANNA CITY – Cort A. Dixon, 29, of Hanna City was arrested shortly after 9 a.m. Feb. 20 and accused of driving under the influence of alcohol, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.
• ELMWOOD – Shannon D. Busby, 51, of Elmwood was arrested shortly after 10 a.m. Feb. 20 and accused of driving on a revoked license, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.
• ELMWOOD – Jose R. DeJesus, 31, of Elmwood was arrested shortly before 4 p.m. Feb. 15 and accused of aggravated vehicular hijacking/discharge/harm, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.
• ELMWOOD – Robert R. Arnold, 69, of Elmwood was arrested at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 14 and accused of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.
• HANNA CITY – A man was arrested after he twice shut off the power to a Hanna City residence, according to authorities. The incident in the 400 block of N. Carole Ave. was reported about 4 a.m. Feb. 10. A resident there said William A. Tillman, 40, of Hanna City began banging on his door, then accessed the exterior fuse box, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.
According to another witness, Tillman was yelling outside and beating on the sides of the house. The previous day, the sheriff’s office told Tillman not to return to that address.
Tillman was accused of criminal trespass to real estate. On Feb. 7, Tillman was arrested and accused of failure to appear in court, according to the sheriff’s office. He also was being held for another law-enforcement agency.
