The Weekly Post public record for 9-5-24

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

• WILLIAMSFIELD – A fire at a Williamsfield residence resulted in a woman receiving hospital treatment.
About 12:05 a.m. Aug. 21, firefighters were summoned to 125 N. Olive St. There they found light smoke and a few flames emanating from the house, according to Ty Landon, chief of the Williamsfield Fire Protection District.

Firefighters extinguished the flames quickly, Landon said. The source appeared to be electric wires that shorted along the baseboard of the house. All three occupants exited safely, although at least one cat was rescued from inside. The American Red Cross was summoned to assist the occupants.

A BYE ambulance transported a woman to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria. She might have had mild smoke inhalation, according to Landon. Firefighters, including some from the Brimfield and Elba-Salem districts, were on the scene for about two hours. Landon didn’t have a damage estimate.

• HANNA CITY – A Hanna City man who fled from police was wanted in Peoria County for multiple crimes.
A Peoria County Sheriff’s Office deputy was dispatched about 8 p.m. Aug. 21 to Illinois Route 116 and Eden Road regarding a report about a man pushing a motorcycle alongside the highway. A sheriff’s-office report indicated Austin J. Pakula, 28, fled the area on foot. A search in Hanna City ensued.

Deputies tracked down Pakula near a Hanna City business, but again he fled, the report stated. A deputy caught Pakula and tackled him after he ran into a wooden fence. Pakula was charged with obstructing justice and resisting and obstructing an officer.

A check revealed Pakula’s driver’s license was suspended. He also had outstanding warrants for unlawful possession of less than 5 grams of methamphetamine and failure to appear in court regarding a drunken-driving case. Pakula was transported to the Peoria County Jail.

• FARMINGTON – A vehicle parked after hours at a Farmington convenience store led to the driver being cited for having a suspended license.

A Farmington police officer noticed a 2007 Honda Accord about 1 a.m. Aug. 20 in the parking lot of Casey’s, 84 S. Main St. The store was closed, which raised the officer’s suspicions, according to a police report.

Eventually, the vehicle driven by Amber Jo Brand, 41, of Farmington headed north on Main Street. The officer stopped the vehicle in the 100 block of W. Barlow Rd. after a check revealed Brand’s license was suspended. She is to appear Sept. 6 in Fulton County Circuit Court.

• ELMWOOD – An Elmwood woman was accused of damaging a vehicle at a local convenience store.
A Peoria County Sheriff’s Office deputy was dispatched about 10:45 p.m. Aug. 19 to Casey’s, 811 W. Main St., regarding issues with a female, according to a heavily redacted report. It indicated a mirror on a 2011 Chevrolet pickup truck was damaged. The mirror was valued at $500.

Allyssa S. Cole, 24, was arrested and accused of domestic battery/ bodily harm and criminal damage to property. She was transported to the Peoria County Jail.

• WILLIAMSFIELD – A Yates City driver was uninjured after his car struck a power pole southeast of Williamsfield. Hayden R. Bradt was behind the wheel of an eastbound 2013 Chevrolet Malibu about 7:30 a.m. Aug. 16 on Barrett Road near Elmore Road when the vehicle crashed into the Ameren Illinois pole, according to a Peoria County Sheriff’s Office report.

Bradt said he was driving too fast and lost control. First responders checked Bradt, and his vehicle was towed. An Ameren employee advised the power wires there were safe and the pole was to be replaced.

• PRINCEVILLE – A Peoria man appeared to avoid physical injury from a single-vehicle accident south of Princeville.

A Peoria County Sheriff’s Office deputy was dispatched about 10 a.m. Aug. 16 to Parks School and Mendenhall roads. There the deputy found a 2012 Kia in a ditch and Justin M. Kral outside the vehicle. Kral said he was southbound on Mendenhall Road when on a curve he lost control of the vehicle.

Kral didn’t complain about injuries but appeared confused and said he had previous medical conditions, a report stated. An ambulance transported Kral to Carle Health Methodist Hospital in Peoria for evaluation. His vehicle was towed.

• DAHINDA – A Dahinda man found bloodied outside his residence claimed someone hit him, but no suspect could be found.

A Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputy was dispatched about 9 p.m. Aug. 16 to the 1700 block of Jackson St., where the 58-year-old man was lying on the ground with a cut on his nose. A small amount of blood was pooled on the sidewalk, according to a sheriff’s-office report.

The man said someone came up to him while he was outside and hit him in the side of the head. Later, he said he might have been hit with a rock.

A search of the area came up empty. An ambulance transported the man to an unspecified hospital.
• FARMINGTON – Trent L. Johnson, 25, of Farmington was arrested about 7:45 p.m. Aug. 8 at a residence in the 100 block of W. Pearl St. for having an outstanding Fulton County warrant for criminal damage to property. Johnson was transported to the Fulton County Jail.

• LAURA – Matthew J. Webb, 35, of Laura was arrested at noon Aug. 26 and accused of possession of child pornography, according to the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.

• BRIMFIELD – Christopher J. Kinser, 50, of Brimfield was arrested at 10 a.m. Aug. 22 and accused of two counts 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 Aug. 18-24: unwanted subject, Yates City; suspicious person, Yates City; battery, Yates City; burglar alarm, Dahinda; suspicious person, Williamsfield; suspicious incident, Williamsfield; domestic dispute, Dahinda; structure fire, Williamsfield; vehicle theft, Williamsfield; two domestic disputes, Yates City.