NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Police reports
• YATES CITY – A Yates City man’s blood-alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit after he was involved in a single-vehicle accident.
Adam J. McCormick, 43, was transported to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria following the wreck. It happened about 1 a.m. March 3 in the 2300 block of Knox Road 550 North between Yates City and Elmwood.
A Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived at the scene to find a white 2018 Ford van on its driver’s side in a field north of the roadway, according to a report. The van appeared to have rolled twice. McCormick was ejected through the front windshield but walked to a nearby residence for help.
The deputy arrived at St. Francis to find McCormick in the trauma unit, his head covered in blood. McCormick said he had two bottles of beer at home before he headed for a friend’s house in Elmwood.
McCormick’s BAC was .179, per the report. The legal limit is .08.
McCormick was accused of driving under the influence of alcohol, illegal transportation of alcohol, operating an uninsured motor vehicle and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. The van was registered to McCormick’s employer, a plumbing company.
• OAK RUN – A deputy rescued two Knox College students who fell out of a kayak on a lake east of Oak Run.
Wyatt A. Janiga, 20, of Whiting, Ind., was sitting in a tree overhanging the water on the north side of Green Oaks Lake when the Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived about 2 p.m. Feb. 21. Another Knox student, 22-year-old Jonathan A. Sarich of Woodridge, was sitting about 7 feet up the bank.
The deputy found a canoe, paddled it about 350 feet to the scene and rescued both men separately, according to a sheriff’s-office report. Because of ice, neither man had been able to make it to the bank closest to their vehicle. The area is part of the Knox College Green Oaks Biological Field Station.
No injuries were reported. First responders from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Oneida-Wataga, Victoria-Copley and Williamsfield fire departments assisted.
• WILLIAMSFIELD – Debris that fell off the back of a trailer struck two vehicles on Interstate 74 south of Williamsfield, according to authorities.
The incident happened about 11:45 a.m. Feb. 26 on the westbound interstate near Knox Highway 18. A 41-year-old Knoxville woman driving a 2020 Kia Sedona van said a piece of shiny metal flew off the truck-pulled trailer and struck her vehicle, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report.
The mud-covered metal, about 3-by-2 feet, damaged the van’s front grille and hood. Another piece flew out of the trailer and struck a vehicle that was attempting to pass the truck, which was emblazoned with the name of a Yates City business.
A deputy contacted the business owner. He disputed the circumstances but agreed to contact the victim and settle the situation civilly, according to the report.
• WILLIAMSFIELD – A Williamsfield High School student received by cellphone inappropriate photographs of a peer, authorities stated.
The incident was reported about 11:30 a.m. Feb. 21, according to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. The images were of an 18-year-old naked male, but genitalia were not exposed. The student who received the photos complained to a Williamsfield-school administrator, a sheriff’s-office report stated.
When a deputy questioned the student depicted, he said he sent the photos more than a year ago to friends in a group chat. He said he never sent the photos to a girl and no longer had them.
The telephone number from which the message was sent was traced to an application used to hide one’s identity, the report stated. Because the photos had no pornographic images, school officials handled the situation administratively.
• FARMINGTON – A Farmington man was accused of violating an order of protection eight times over a two-day period.
Video-security recordings revealed Walter P. Albrecht, 71, walked repeatedly Feb. 14 and 15 in front of a 62-year-old woman’s residence in the 700 block of E. Court St., a Farmington Police Department report stated.
According to the order, Albrecht must stay at least 100 feet from the residence and the woman, except when he’s entering and exiting his nearby apartment. Albrecht was arrested there about 10:45 p.m. Feb. 20 and was transported to the Fulton County Jail in Lewistown.
• HANNA CITY – Shortly before 6:30 p.m. Feb. 24, Dirck W. Prince of Farmington was driving a 2020 Chevrolet sport-utility vehicle west in the 15800 block of Illinois Route 116 when the SUV struck a deer. Prince declined medical treatment, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. The SUV sustained moderate damage to its driver’s side but was drivable.
• EDWARDS – Austin A. Lonergan, 23, of Edwards was arrested shortly after 2 a.m. March 8 and accused of residential burglary, criminal damage to property of less than $500 and theft control intent between $500 and $10,000, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.
• BRIMFIELD – Joel K. Crotts, 47, of Brimfield was arrested about 4:15 p.m. March 7 and accused of aggravated domestic battery/great bodily harm, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.
• ELMWOOD – Breanna L. Kiesner, 34, of Elmwood was arrested shortly before 9:45 a.m. March 4 and accused of failure to appear in court, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.
• ELMWOOD – Chief Aaron Bean reported the following Elmwood Police Department activity for February: one arrest, 14 traffic stops, 14 warnings, 14 reports, one notice to appear and one ordinance violation.
• WILLIAMSFIELD – Chief James Robertson reported the following Williamsfield Police Department activity for February: one speeding citation, one speeding warning, one other citation and one other warning.
• GALESBURG – These were among calls to which the Knox County Sheriff’s Office responded between Feb. 25-March 2: burglar alarm, Williamsfield; burglary, Galva; wire down, Williamsfield; phone harassment, Galva.
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