NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Police reports
• YATES CITY – A Yates City man was arrested twice last month – first in a forgery case, then regarding an illegal-drugs accusation, among other offenses.
Elmwood police took Zachary R. Cassel, 32, into custody July 21 after he deposited suspected fraudulent checks at Farmers State Bank. The checks totaled at least $15,000, according to a police report.
Cassel was accused of bank fraud, deceptive practices, forgery, identity theft and theft of more than $500. He was released July 22 from the Peoria County Jail. A week later, Cassel was arrested again, this time in Peoria.
Per a Peoria police report, Cassel was driving a 2015 Chevrolet van when an officer stopped him shortly before 1:45 a.m. July 29 in the 1100 block of E. Nebraska Ave. The vehicle had just left a residence drug users are known to frequent.
A substance that tested positive for methamphetamine was found inside the vehicle; Cassel said he had no knowledge of it. He was accused of unlawful possession of meth, driving on a suspended license and improper turn-signal use. Cassel also was wanted in Knox County for an unspecified offense.
• EDWARDS – Fire caused about $100,000 in damage to a barn at an Edwards-area fish farm, according to authorities.
The blaze at Herman Brothers Fisheries, 3004 N. Taylor Rd., began shortly before 7:30 p.m. July 23, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.
A Herman Brothers representative said she was at her nearby residence when she saw smoke rising from the barn area but assumed it was from a neighbor burning brush. As the smoke became blacker, she drove to the area and saw the north and west sides of the barn were aflame.
Firefighters from the Bartonville, Brimfield, Limestone, Logan-Trivoli, Peoria Air Guard, Timber-Hollis and West Peoria departments responded. The fire origin did not appear to be suspicious. The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal was to investigate.
• DUNLAP – A 48-year-old Princeville woman was a possible victim in a domestic-battery incident in Dunlap.
Kyle Lewis, 44, of Chillicothe was arrested in connection with the incident, which happened shortly before 9:30 a.m. July 19 at a residence in the 200 block of E. Elm St., according to a heavily redacted Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.
Dispatchers reported a woman screaming in the background during an emergency call. A 36-year-old Chillicothe woman also was listed as a possible victim. Lewis was accused of domestic battery/bodily harm and interference with a report of domestic violence.
• BRIMFIELD – A Galesburg man sustained significant injuries when the motorcycle he was riding struck a deer east of Brimfield.
Michael K. Love was aboard a westbound 2023 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Highway King shortly before 3:30 p.m. July 17 on Brimfield-Jubilee Road near Savage Road when two deer emerged from the south, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.
The motorcycle struck one of the deer and crashed to the pavement. An ambulance transported Love to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria. Love sustained fractured ribs, a punctured lung and multiple lacerations to his face and left arm. The motorcycle sustained major damage.
• PEORIA – No injuries were reported following a two-vehicle wreck just west of the Peoria city limits that involved a Hanna City man. Timothy P. Pelka was driving an eastbound 2013 Chevrolet Malibu shortly before 5:45 a.m. July 14 on Harmon Highway when at Lincoln Avenue it collided with a 2019 Ford Fusion driven by Jacob M. Carroll of Peoria, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report. Carroll was cited for disobeying a stop sign.
• HANNA CITY – Law-enforcement personnel located a mailbox reported stolen from a Hanna City-area residence and returned it to its owner.
A Peoria County Sheriff’s Office deputy was summoned about 7 p.m. July 11 to the 200 block of S. Pinkerton Rd. The resident said he saw the bright-white mailbox atop its post about 8 a.m. He suspected teenagers took it for fun, according to a sheriff’s-office report.
Later, prompted by a Facebook post, the deputy found the mailbox alongside the road in the 1100 block of Greengold Rd. The mailbox matched the victim’s description.
• EDWARDS – An argument resulted in an Edwards man being accused of multiple crimes.
Jacob G. Stevenson, 36, was arrested at 2:30 a.m. July 11 following the incident at a residence in the 6800 block of N. Ironwood Drive, according to a Peoria police report. Officers stood outside and heard Stevenson yelling at a woman before they knocked.
A check revealed Stevenson was wanted in Fulton County for domestic battery and aggravated assault. He also was accused of obstructing justice, because he gave an officer an incorrect surname. Stevenson was transported to the Peoria County Jail.
• DAHINDA – A Galesburg woman admitted to driving into a stop sign south of Dahinda.
The downed sign on Knox Highway 15 at U.S. Route 150 was reported about 11 a.m. July 6, according to a Knox County Sheriff’s Office report. Also found at the intersection was a license plate that belonged to a vehicle registered to 56-year-old Linda D. White.
When a sheriff’s-office deputy contacted White at her residence, she said she was driving east about 9 a.m. on Route 150 and turning north on Highway 15 when the vehicle, a 2000 Oldsmobile Alero, struck the stop sign.
• MONICA – At 3:30 p.m. July 17, Daniel E. Dunn of Princeville was driving a northbound 2023 Honda Ridgeline pickup truck on Beall Road near Parks School Road south of Monica when the vehicle struck a deer. No injuries to Dunn were listed in a Peoria County Sheriff’s report.
• BARTONVILLE – At 7:45 p.m. July 14, Sarah M. Mooberry of Hanna City was driving a 2006 Toyota Matrix east in the 9000 block of W. Smithville Rd. west of Bartonville when the vehicle struck a deer. Mooberry said she wasn’t injured, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s report. The impact killed the deer.
• FARMINGTON – Dustin R. Maples, 41, of Farmington was arrested shortly after 8:15 a.m. July 28 and accused 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 July 20-26: stray dog, Williamsfield; suspicious incident, Dahinda; domestic dispute, Dahinda; suspicious vehicle, Yates City; road hazard, Dahinda; road hazard, Williamsfield.
Marriage license
• Saige Marie Jacobus and James William Houlihan, both of Brimfield.
