Tazewell County prosecutors plan to try a former Pekin police officer again on charges he slapped a handcuffed teenager several times after the youth insulted him.A mistrial was declared when a jury failed to reach a verdict in August in the felony case against Nathan Ujinski, who was dismissed from the department in January in the wake of the charges.His case returned to court for review on Monday. After it was reset for that purpose to Jan. 12, 2018, his [...]
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Former Pekin cop faces second trial
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Three men charged with EP home invasions
Three young men allegedly came together early Sunday to invade two East Peoria homes at gunpoint and rob their occupants. No shots were fired, but charges filed Tuesday could produce years in prison for the men, who were captured at and near the scene of the second pre-dawn crime.Two charges of home invasion with a firearm and one of armed robbery with a firearm, all Class X felonies, were each filed against Marquis German, 20, of Washington, Cory Parker, 18, of [...]
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Delavan man dies from gunshot Friday, but police say no foul play
DELAVAN — Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old Delavan resident on Friday afternoon, but foul play is not suspected.Kaleb H. Hoerbert was pronounced dead at the scene in the 22000 block of Armington Road in Delavan shortly after emergency responders arrrived about 12:55 p.m.Hoerbert was found unconscious with a gunshot wound to the chest, and efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, according to a release from the Tazewell County Sheriff's [...]
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Donations save Pekin family from eviction
Donations to a Pekin mother of five have saved the family for now from being forced from their home, she said Monday.As of 3 p.m. Monday, several dozen people had produced nearly $3,150 over the past week after the plight of Delores and her young children was reported in the Daily Times and other area publications.Delores (whose name is changed to protect her family’s identity) had fallen six months behind in her rent since her husband, and father of [...]
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Washington man shot through wall Friday during neighbor's target practice
WASHINGTON — A Washington man out target shooting Friday accidentally wounded his neighbor after a stray bullet pierced a shed wall and caused what police called non-life-threatening injuries.Deputies with the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office responded about 7:15 p.m. to 26102 Schuck Road and found a resident, Jacob A. Miller, 21, with a gunshot wound to his arm. Family members later transported him to a Peoria hospital for treatment.Miller was in a large shed on [...]
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Peoria man shot by Creve Coeur police convicted
A Peoria man pleaded guilty rather than go to trial Wednesday on charges he drove his car at a Creve Coeur police officer two years ago.In that incident, two officers fired gunshots as Michael Cleary drove away, wounding him in his right hand.Cleary, 33, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault of a police officer in exchange for dismissal of two other charges, an unrelated charge of fleeing from police and a prosecutor’s promise not to seek more than [...]
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Inmate charged with knife in Tazewell jail
A Tazewell County jail inmate told another he planned to stab a pregnant jail guard with a self-made knife, charges filed Thursday allege.Bryan Arnold, 28, of Delavan, admitted he made the knife, commonly known as a shiv, that corrections officers found in his cell, but only for self protection, according to a prosecutor’s court affidavit. He was charged Thursday with possessing a weapon in a penal institution, a Class 1 felony punishable by four to [...]
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EP murder suspect sought more killings from jail, charges say
A man charged with murdering another in his East Peoria home last December allegedly schemed from jail to kill his victim’s widow and stepson.Charges filed Thursday accuse Kenneth Ohler, 48, of asking two fellow Tazewell County jail inmates to explode or set fire to the home of the late Michael Dixon, 60, while his two intended victims slept.Ohler will be prosecuted on two charges each of soliciting for murder and soliciting for [...]
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DCFS caseworker allegedly sought child sex
A former state child care investigator in Pekin sought sex for hire from a 14-year-old girl who then took part in robbing him, charges filed Friday allege.Melvin Devall, 58, also allegedly lied to police about the circumstances that led him to being robbed by two young men and another juvenile who accosted him in woods at Coal Miners Park in August 2016.Arrested a month later, he’s now formally charged with two felony counts of official misconduct, two [...]
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Safety campaign raises awareness of Illinois 'Move Over' law
SCHILLER PARK, Ill. — Gov. Bruce Rauner joined state officials to announce a new roadway safety campaign aimed at raising awareness of an Illinois law requiring motorists to move over for stopped vehicles with flashing lights.The state law was first enacted in 2002, requiring motorists to slow down, move over and change lanes if possible to make room for stopped emergency vehicles with flashing lights. The law was expanded in January 2017 to include any vehicle with flashing [...]
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Creve Coeur remembers Pearl Harbor, the continuing price of freedom
CREVE COEUR — On a chilly but sunny day, music from the 1940s played over a loudspeaker and two World War II-era jeeps were parked near Creve Coeur's veterans memorial as the annual tradition of honors veterans past and present continued.Veterans, residents and several dozen children watched as a trio of U.S. Marine reservists raised the American flag to half staff above the village’s veterans memorial as part of its annual recognition of Pearl Harbor Day.A [...]
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Creve Coeur remembers Pearl Harbor and the price of freedom
CREVE COEUR — On a chilly but sunny day, music from the 1940s played over a loudspeaker and two World War II-era jeeps were parked near Creve Coeur's veterans memorial as the annual tradition of honoring veterans past and present continued.Veterans, residents and several dozen children watched as a trio of U.S. Marine reservists raised the American flag to half staff above the village’s veterans memorial as part of its annual recognition of Pearl Harbor Day.A [...]
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Deadly new fentanyl a 'game changer'
PEORIA — Within the past two days, three people have died from a highly potent form of fentanyl that is also being found in cocaine, police said Thursday.Peoria Police Chief Jerry Mitchell called that a "game changer," because people who use cocaine regularly tend not to carry Narcan, a drug that can reverse the effects of heroin and other opioids. The chief led a quickly called news conference Thursday afternoon, two days after he and others at the Peoria Police Department [...]
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Pekin man allegedly terrorized boy
A Pekin grade school principal told police he recently had to put an 8-year-old boy onto his school bus after classes because the child didn’t want to go home.It apparently wasn’t because the boy "loves school so much," as he had said on other days when he acted "disruptive" as classes neared their end, according to a prosecutor’s court affidavit.Shawn Vanetten, 33, the man the boy identified as his stepfather, regularly threw him around, [...]
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Meth, motel fight puts Pekin man in prison
One of two Pekin men whose motel room held a variety of drugs was sentenced Friday to five years in prison.Police might not have found the meth, cocaine and other items in the Motel 6 room in East Peoria last Sept. 6 if an officer on a routine check there hadn’t encountered Thomas Cox and Tristan Bass fighting in the hallway.Cox, 24, was sentenced when he pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine with intent to deliver, punishable by four to 15 [...]
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Alleged tire rim thief sought again
Police once again are searching for a Missouri man suspected of taking part in a theft ring that targeted expensive tire rims in the Pekin-Peoria area and across two states.Pekin police first caught Brian Mims, 57, last June as he tried to escape them by jumping into a small North Pekin lake, a choice his alleged partner made successfully.Free on bond, Mims, of Potosi, Mo., made several scheduled appearances in Tazewell County Circuit Court since his arrest. [...]
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Prolific Pekin felon charged in federal drug case
Wade Bonk has logged 13 felony convictions in Tazewell County. His next, on a drug conspiracy charge involving two other Pekin residents, could come in federal court.The case filed Thursday in Peoria’s U.S. District Court accuses Bonk, Darcy Kampas and Timothy Wood of conspiring to distribute and possessing with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of meth between last May and mid-September.It carries a minimum 10-year prison term that could double with [...]
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Prosecutors seek long prison term for Bonk
After prosecuting Wade Bonk over more than two decades, Tazewell County prosecutors aren’t about to give him a break.Bonk, 39, of Pekin, was in court Wednesday for an appearance on his pending charge of possessing meth with intent to deliver. Last week, he was charged in federal court with conspiracy to distribute the drug in a similar but unrelated case.State charges against defendants are at times dismissed when they subsequently face federal [...]
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Facebook post produces felony charge for Pekin man
It’s been said that what someone writes on a social media website can produce long-lasting consequences. A Pekin man has provided a case in point.Andrew Uppole, 32, has remained in custody since he was charged last week with cyberstalking, a felony punishable by up to three years in prison.Uppole posted a statement on his Facebook page in which he said he would kill a woman and her boyfriend if they didn’t stop "gang stalking" him, according to [...]
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Accused Peoria murderer, robber jailed in Tazewell
Charges that could imprison him for decades await a Peoria man whose murder conviction nearly six years ago was overturned on appeal.Daniel Jackson, 27, managed to post a $10,000 cash bond after he was charged in Peoria County last January with robbing a taxi driver at gunpoint and shooting a half-dozen bullets into the cab as his victim sped away.He found another $5,000 to cover the bond set last May when he was jailed in Tazewell [...]
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