NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Police reports
• ELMORE – A Peoria man was accused of drunken driving after his vehicle damaged a railroad crossing near Elmore.
Lucas A. Williams, 29, was behind the wheel of a 2017 Ford sedan that apparently broke in half a BNSF Railway crossing arm about 1:30 a.m. Aug. 17 in the 18700 block of N. Elmore Rd., according to a heavily redacted Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.
The vehicle sustained disabling damage and was towed. Williams was transported to the Peoria County Jail and cited for driving under the influence of alcohol and for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. BNSF, BYE Ambulance Service and Williamsfield firefighters also responded.
• HANNA CITY – A single-vehicle wreck west of Hanna City led to a Farmington man being accused of drunken driving.
Neal D. Kephart, 64, was driving an eastbound 2006 Ford F-150 pickup truck about 8:30 p.m. Aug. 15 in the 13800 block of Illinois Route 116 when, according to a witness, it veered partially into a south-side ditch, crossed the westbound lanes, rolled multiple times and stopped upright facing north.
Kephart said another vehicle side-swiped his and he was driving west, according to Peoria County Sheriff’s Office reports. He sustained right-side rib fractures and left-elbow lacerations and was transported to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria.
The vehicle was totaled and towed. Kephart was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. Logan-Trivoli firefighters also responded.
• FARMINGTON – A Peoria woman was cited for multiple offenses following a traffic stop west of Farmington.
Cynthia M. Dean, 36, was driving a 2003 Toyota Highlander a Farmington police officer pulled over shortly after 7:15 p.m. Aug. 15 at Illinois Route 116 and Marshall Road following a brief pursuit. The vehicle license plates were expired, according to a police report.
Dean said she didn’t have a driver’s license but was driving the vehicle to a friend in Middlegrove. She was accused of driving with a revoked license and operating a vehicle with expired registration. Dean received a notice to appear Sept. 19 in Fulton County Circuit Court in Lewistown.
• OAK HILL – A Peoria man was arrested at a Kickapoo-area gasoline station following an apparent domestic dispute at a residence south of Oak Hill.
A Peoria County Sheriff’s Office deputy took Christopher A. Whaley, 47, into custody shortly before 9 p.m. Aug. 13 at the Shell station at 7200 N. Kickapoo-Edwards Rd. Sheriff’s-office reports indicated Whaley went there from the scene of the incident, in the 15500 block of W. Willow Creek Rd.
Dispatchers reported multiple 911-call hangups from that address. They could hear a man and a woman arguing during those calls. Deputies were sent to the residence about 8:15 p.m. and were unable to locate the woman, but a witness said a man departed in a truck.
Whaley was accused of domestic battery and transported to the Peoria County Jail.
• BRIMFIELD – Fire caused significant damage to a house south of Brimfield.
The house in the 18000 block of N. Brimfield Rd. was engulfed in flames when a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived, shortly after 4:30 p.m. Aug. 13.
According to a sheriff’s-office report, an 83-year-old female resident said she had returned home from grocery shopping and parked in the garage when she noticed a burning odor. She thought neighbors were conducting a bonfire. Later, she noticed the garage was ablaze.
Firefighters from the Brimfield, Dunlap, Elba-Salem, Elmwood and Logan-Trivoli departments responded, as did BYE Ambulance Service. The fire origin was believed not to be suspicious.
No damage estimate was available.
• OAK RUN – A Williamsfield-area woman was driving 27 mph above the speed limit shortly before she was stopped south of Oak Run, according to authorities.
Kristin M. Bays, 33, was behind the wheel of a 2011 Ford a Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputy observed traveling 82 mph shortly before 7:45 a.m. Aug. 13 in the 1500 block of U.S. Route 150.
Bays was cited for speeding and received a notice to appear in Knox County Circuit Court in Galesburg.
• BELLEVUE – A Princeville woman was accused of domestic battery following an incident at a Bellevue residence.
A Peoria County Sheriff’s Office deputy was dispatched shortly after 1:30 a.m. Aug. 13 to the 300 block of N. Amy Drive. Jessie J. Galindo, 22, was transported to Carle Health Methodist Hospital in Peoria, then to the Peoria County Jail. The victim was a 31-year-old Peoria man.
• HANNA CITY – A Canton man required hospital treatment because of a single-vehicle accident south of Hanna City.
Shortly after 3:15 p.m. Aug. 12, Ross A. Nixon was driving an eastbound 2012 Chevrolet 1500 pickup truck that swerved repeatedly, traversed a ditch and continued for about 500 feet before it stopped in a field, a witness told the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.
Nixon was bleeding from his face and didn’t remember what happened, a sheriff’s-office report stated. His right eyebrow was cut and his right eye was swollen shut. It appeared Nixon sustained a medical emergency.
An ambulance transported Nixon to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria. Nixon was not wearing a seat belt. The vehicle sustained minor damage and was towed.
• KICKAPOO – Both drivers declined medical treatment following a two-vehicle wreck east of Kickapoo.
Maddex B. Huffman of Farmington was driving an eastbound 2015 Dodge Charger shortly before 8:45 a.m. Aug. 12 on U.S. Route 150 when at Gilles Road it rear-ended a 2017 Jeep Cherokee sport-utility vehicle, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.
Danny R. Johnson of East Peoria was the other driver. He said he was slowing to turn south on Gilles Road when the accident happened. Huffman admitted he was following Johnson’s vehicle too closely. The SUV sustained minor damage and was drivable, but the Charger required a tow.
• PEORIA – A Hanna City man was one of two arrested in connection with a domestic dispute at a Peoria apartment.
Peoria police officers were summoned shortly before 2:30 a.m. Aug. 7 to a residence in the 3600 block of W. Verona Court. There they found Matthew S. Turbett, 45, and Rickquel D. King, 31, of Peoria. A police report indicated King and Turbett were injured and had stolen each other’s cellphones.
Video from one of the cellphones revealed Turbett holding a handgun while threatening to shoot King. Turbett was accused of aggravated domestic battery, aggravated assault with a firearm, interfering with a domestic-violence report and robbery. King was accused of domestic battery and theft.
• KICKAPOO – No injuries were reported after a recreational vehicle struck a minivan parked in the lot of a Kickapoo-area gasoline station.
Derek N. Brown of East Peoria was driving a 2002 Tiffin RV toward fuel pumps shortly after 5:30 p.m. Aug. 15 in the lot of the Shell station at 7200 N. Kickapoo-Edwards Rd. A 2017 Honda Odyssey was parked away from the curb, which hindered the RV’s progress, Brown said.
According to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report, both vehicles were drivable after they sustained minor damage to their rear driver’s-side quarter panels. The minivan driver’s name was not noted on the report. The RV had one passenger.
• NORWOOD – Shortly before 6:30 p.m. Aug. 17, Bryce A. Massey of Elmwood was driving a westbound 2017 Hyundai Sonata in the 7000 block of W. Farmington Rd. west of Norwood when the vehicle struck a deer. Massey didn’t indicate he was injured, a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report stated. The vehicle sustained front-end damage and was towed.
• GALESBURG – These were among calls to which the Knox County Sheriff’s Office responded between Aug. 17-23: dispute, Williamsfield; found article, Williamsfield; suspicious incident, Yates City; domestic dispute, Yates City; driving complaint, Williamsfield; battery, Williamsfield; burglary, Yates City; suspicious person, Yates City.
