What you missed this week in notable Central Illinois crimes and court cases
This week's local crime & court updates from The Pantagraph
Burglary — A Chicago woman is charged with burglary, theft and forgery related to checks she allegedly cashed at three Heartland Bank branches.
Misty McQueen, 47, is charged with taking three checks totaling about $3,000 to bank offices in Bloomington and Normal in June 2018. She was jailed in lieu of posting $5,035.
Photos: 2018-19 McLean County jail mugshots
BLOOMINGTON — A 24-year-old Normal woman faces charges stemming from a Thursday morning crash that destroyed a shed and other property in the 1600 block of Oakland Avenue in Bloomington.
Victoria Hodges was initially arrested on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, driving with a suspended license, and fleeing/attempting to elude. Formal charges are pending.
Police said at 1:30 a.m. Thursday, a McLean County sheriff’s deputy attempted to stop Hodges for a moving violation. Police said she fled, with the vehicle hitting a utility pole and a shed before coming to a stop on a property on Oakland Avenue.
Bloomington Police were called to assist.
Paramedics were called to the scene, but information about whether Hodges was injured was not available on Monday, or if she had any passengers with her.
According to McLean County court documents, Hodges pleaded guilty to DUI last year and was sentenced to 24 months supervision and 100 hours of community service.
NORMAL — A Bloomington man faces a formal charge of driving under the influence of alcohol after his vehicle ran into the living room of a house early Saturday morning in Normal.
Police say Jason Kneer, 48, was driving in the 100 block of North Blair Drive around 2 a.m. when his car veered off the street and into the home of Seth Boggess and his wife, Natasha Warloe. Nobody at the home was hurt.
Kneer was transported to a local hospital for non life-threatening injuries and then booked into the McLean County jail. He posted $135 bond and was released.
Boggess told The Pantagraph he and his wife and two children were sleeping in bedrooms in the rear of their home at 113 N. Blair Drive in Normal when he said he was awakened by the sound of a “crash.”
Normal fire units arrived on the scene and discovered the car had damaged the house's natural gas service. Crews repaired the damage Saturday.
Police said Kneer was headed north on Blair when it swerved across the center line. The car went over the curb and went another 100 feet before crashing through some small trees and lodging itself almost entirely inside the home's living room.
Wrecker operators from Joe’s Towing and Recovery removed the car from the house. The hole in the wall of the structure measured about 5 feet by 8 feet, said police.
Photos: 2018-19 McLean County jail mugshots
BLOOMINGTON — Two people are accused of possessing a stolen car and using a fake check to buy another vehicle.
Marquies Emery and Kierra Emery, both 22, are charged with possessing or selling a stolen vehicle, a Class 2 felony; and forgery and theft by deception, both Class 3 felonies.
Court documents say the pair met a man in order to buy his car and gave him a fake check. When police later pulled over both cars for speeding, they found the initial car to have been reported stolen from Indiana and Kierra Emery in possession of a glue stick.
Meanwhile, a county deputy had determined the fake check had scissor marks on the edge and was in fact two pieces of paper glued together.
Both were jailed in lieu of $5,035 each.
BLOOMINGTON — A 20-year-old Normal man and a Bloomington teenager were arrested Friday in connection with the attempted holdup of a Downs gas station last month, McLean County Sheriff Jon Sandage announced.
Joseph D. Matthews was charged Saturday with attempted armed robbery with a firearm. The juvenile faced a preliminary charge of attempted armed robbery; his status was unclear Saturday.
Matthews was jailed in lieu of $250,035. Court documents indicate the juvenile told authorities he went into the gas station with the gun and that Matthews stayed in the car.
Sheriff's deputies were called at 9:53 p.m. Jan. 20 to the Mobil gas station at 405 S. Seminary St. in Downs. A male produced a firearm and demanded money but fled the scene before obtaining anything of value, police said.
A sheriff's deputy pursued a vehicle believed to be fleeing the scene but broke off because of dangerous road conditions, police said. It was described as a late 1990s or early 2000s white Ford Explorer.
On Tuesday, the suspect vehicle was sighted again in Normal and pulled over at 11:37 p.m. by sheriff's police with assistance from Normal police department.
After a subsequent investigation, the 17-year-old boy was arrested and transported to the McLean County Juvenile Detention Center, Normal, to await a detention hearing. The man was taken to the McLean County jail to await a bond hearing.
The names of suspects charged as juveniles are not public record.
The investigation is continuing with more arrests possible, police said.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact Detective Evan Henkel at 309-888-5049.
Photos: 2018-19 McLean County jail mugshots
BLOOMINGTON — Police said Friday an apparently drunken driver avoided an officer trying to make a traffic stop and ended up running into a utility pole, a shed and other property early Thursday in the 1600 block of Oakland Avenue in Bloomington.
Around 1:30 a.m., a McLean County sheriff’s deputy attempted to make a traffic stop for a moving violation, but the driver did not pull over and the officer did not pursue the motorist, according to the sheriff’s office.
Shortly after that, the driver went off the road, struck a utility pole, ran into the shed and damaged a couple of residences, according to Bloomington police, which was dispatched to the scene to assist with the crash.
The adult driver was arrested on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, driving with a suspended license, fleeing/attempting to elude and other traffic violations, according to the sheriff's office.
Paramedics were called to the scene, but the condition of the driver and passengers was not available on Friday.
No further information was available Friday afternoon, including the driver's identity.
BLOOMINGTON — A prosecutor called a drug case filed Friday against a Chicago man “the head of the snake,” based on the 16 marijuana and cocaine charges filed against him.
Erin Cebrero, 24, was arrested Thursday by agents with Illinois State Police Task Force 6, a multicounty drug enforcement agency.
Assistant State’s Attorney Jeff Horve told a judge at the suspect’s bond hearing that police found a ledger during a search of Cebrero’s home with details of more than 130 drug transactions.
Charges accuse Cebrero of delivery of marijuana and cocaine during several controlled buys in McLean County over the past several months.
Police also found 38 grams of cocaine, 1.8 kilograms of marijuana and about $19,000 in drug money at the suspect’s home, said Horve.
Associate Judge Sarah Duffy set bond a cash bond of $250,000.
Photos: 2018-19 McLean County jail mugshots
Brittney Mikesell, 24, faces murder charges related to Cullen Hedrick's December 2017 death at a Bloomington mobile home park. The 21-year-old man died of stab wounds inflicted by Rodney Daugherty, who told police Mikesell and Hedrick started an argument at the Cardinal Ridge mobile home park (formerly Southgate Estates).
Police did not charge Daugherty, who said he used a knife to defend himself from a machete-wielding Hedrick, who was wearing a mask when he got out of his vehicle, according to police.
Mikesell is charged under the state's felony murder law that allows for a person to be charged with murder if someone dies while they’re committing a forcible felony.
According to police, Mikesell sprayed Daugherty with pepper spray after he exited his vehicle at a residence in the mobile home park.
Mikesell also faces aggravated battery charges accusing her of spitting on an emergency medical technician after she drove Hedrick to the hospital.
Assistant State's Attorney Ashley Scarborough said it's the state's intention to proceed first with the murder case, but a final determination will be made before a June 5 final pre-trial hearing.
BLOOMINGTON — The state can use evidence collected in a police search of the home of a former Bloomington piano teacher accused of sexually assaulting three of his students, a judge ruled Friday.
A total of 38 counts have been filed against Aaron Parlier, accusing him of predatory criminal sexual assault, child pornography and sexual abuse involving three students and two other minors. The charges span a time frame of 2009 to 2016.
The 37-year-old defendant sat motionless, his eyes downcast, throughout the two-hour hearing.
Defense lawyer Gal Pissetzky argued the information used by police to request the search warrants came from minors allegedly assaulted several years earlier, making the information stale.
Authorities also failed to show a nexus existed between the alleged crime, the information and the suspect, said Pissetzky.
He said an initial search of an apartment in Bloomington where alleged victims claim Parlier molested them turned up no evidence because he had vacated the residence by the time police searched it. That showed the information was out of date, he said.
A second home in Mackinaw where police believed Parlier lived with his wife also was searched with a warrant based on the same information that formed the basis for the search of the apartment.
The defense also argued the search warrant application sought computers and other devices not mentioned by the minors in their statements.
The circumstances of the Parlier case represent "the rare, exceptional case" because of the question of whether the information was current enough to warrant a search, said the defense lawyer.
Conclusions by the defense that police lacked potential evidence of a crime when they searched the suspect's home "defies logic," said Assistant State's Attorney Erika Reynolds.
The prosecutor listed specifics from the multiple interviews police conducted with the alleged victims, including descriptions of an ongoing sexual relationship allegedly lasting several years between the music teacher and a minor.
Reynolds also noted that Parlier admitted to police he engaged in the relationship and sent a sexually explicit photo to a girl to solicit her opinion before he sent it to his girlfriend. He did not deny having a student practice in the nude, the prosecutor added.
In his ruling, Costigan cited a distinction between potential evidence that may become stale, such as drugs, and computers that could contain evidence. He also found that a nexus could be drawn between Parlier and the items police sought as possible evidence.
It was not unreasonable for authorities to believe video and photos could be transferred from a video camera and stored on electronic devices not mentioned by the alleged victims, he said.
An April 5 hearing is set to review the status of the case.
BLOOMINGTON — A Normal man admitted his connection to a package containing 24 pounds of marijuana, a prosecutor said Friday at the suspect's bond hearing on felony drug charges.
Jeffory Lahr, 46, is charged with marijuana trafficking and unlawful possession of marijuana with intent to deliver the drug.
Lahr told agents with the Illinois State Police Task Force 6 drug unit that the package delivered to his residence in the 100 block of Liberty Road had no ties to other people at the address, according to Assistant State's Attorney Jeff Horve.
"It's all mine," Lahr told officers as they seized a package containing marijuana worth $100,000 on the street, the prosecutor told Associate Judge Sarah Duffy.
The prosecutor said the package originated in Colorado and the 21 packages of marijuana inside were intended to be sold in Illinois and Michigan.
The drug investigation by the multicounty drug enforcement unit focused on drug activity between Colorado and the Midwest, according to the prosecutor.
Lahr was jailed in lieu of posting $100,035.
Photos: 2018-19 McLean County jail mugshots
BLOOMINGTON — A 22-year-old Bloomington man is confident he is ready to serve as his own lawyer at a May 13 bench trial on nine counts of first-degree murder.
Sydney Mays Jr. confirmed Friday to Judge Casey Costigan that he does not want a lawyer appointed to assist him. He is accused of shooting Nate Pena and Corey Jackson, both 22, and Juan Carlos Perez, 33, at an apartment on Riley Drive. Pena’s young son was wounded in the June 18 incident.
In December, Mays dismissed his appointed lawyers and said he would handle his own defense. The judge asked him at that time and at hearings since then if he understood the nature of the murder charges and the consequences if he is convicted.
The possible penalties are "quite severe, including potentially life in prison," Costigan reminded Mays at Friday's hearing. Mays again declined the judge's offer to have a lawyer represent him.
Public defenders Carla Barnes and Brian McEldowney were in the courtroom as appointed stand-by counsel, but did not participate in the hearing. Their role at the bench trial will be limited to answering legal questions from Mays. He will be responsible for questioning witnesses and developing his own trial strategy.
Assistant State's Attorney John Shim said the state is ready.
Mays spent about four months in a Milwaukee jail last year awaiting extradition on the McLean County murder charges. He was arrested in Wisconsin on drug charges and challenged his return to Illinois.
BLOOMINGTON — Crime Stoppers of McLean County needs the public's help in finding a person who is wanted for felony charges.
Eric Menken, 50, is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 170 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes. His last known address was in Bloomington.
Menken is named on a warrant charging him with one count of domestic battery/previous conviction.
Crime Stoppers will pay cash rewards of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and indictment of people who commit felony crimes in McLean County. Call 309-828-1111.
SPRINGFIELD — A Bloomington man has been arrested and charged with robbing Check Into Cash stores in Springfield and Bloomington.
Police in the two cities identified the suspect as Toshiro D. Luttrell, 39, of the 900 block of West Taylor Street in Bloomington.
Luttrell was arrested Wednesday night on a warrant from the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office on charges of armed robbery, aggravated robbery, unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon and theft over $500. His bond amount was not available.
Police said a man entered the Check Into Cash store at 1754 Wabash Ave., Springfield, about 3:34 p.m. Tuesday. He showed the employee a gun and demanded money before fleeing.
Police said they determined the same man robbed the Check Into Cash store at 2303 E. Washington St., Bloomington, on Jan. 28.
Police were called at 11:15 a.m. to that store after a man armed with a gun entered and demanded money from an employee. The suspect took an undisclosed amount of cash and property and left on foot.
There were no injuries reported.
Anyone with information concerning the Springfield incident is asked to call the Springfield Police Department at 217-788-8311 and/or Sangamon/Menard County Crime Stoppers at 217-788-8427.
For the Bloomington case, contact Bloomington police Detective Jared Roth at 309-434-2379 or email him at jroth@cityblm.org.
BLOOMINGTON — The trial date for a Bloomington man facing rape charges was delayed Thursday after the state requested more time to investigate the defendant's medical condition, which could be relevant to the charges.
Julius Scott, 23, is accused of sexually assaulting a minor in November 2017 while he was a volunteer with the Boys & Girls Club of Bloomington-Normal.
Assistant State's Attorney Erika Reynolds asked to postpone Scott's Feb. 11 jury trial until the state has time to review records related to a medical condition for which Scott received treatment since he has been in jail.
Reynolds called the medical information "sensitive" and "highly relevant" to the case.
According to a police interview previously played in court, Scott admitted he had engaged in consensual sex with a teenage girl at a park near the Boys & Girls Club. At the time of the alleged encounter, Scott was a volunteer as part of his community service obligation for a domestic battery conviction.
Reynolds also disclosed that the state's offer of 12 years in prison in exchange for Scott's guilty plea to a single count of sex assault remains open. Scott previously rejected the offer.
Judge Scott Drazewski agreed to delay the trial to March 18 over the objection of defense lawyer Jennifer Patton.
In a statement after Scott's arrest, the Boys & Girls Club said the former volunteer was banned from the facility and the organization was cooperating fully with the police investigation.
Scott remains in jail on $500,000 bond.
Photos: 2018-19 McLean County jail mugshots
BLOOMINGTON — Two Bloomington residents face felony marijuana charges.
Marquis Williams and Freddrica Brown, who both reside in an apartment in the 800 block of West Washington Street, are charged with possession of marijuana.
Williams also is charged with delivery of marijuana, possession of a weapon without a firearm owners identification card and illegal possession of ammunition.
According to a statement read in court by prosecutor Jeff Horve, Bloomington police found a hand gun, scales and about 300 grams of marijuana in the apartment. He said Williams told officers he uses marijuana but does not sell the drug.
Williams,29, was held in lieu of $5,035 and Brown, 28, was released on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond.
SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Supreme Court has reversed an appellate ruling that denied Alan Beaman the right to a trial on his claims against the town and three former Normal police officers involved in an investigation that led to murder charges against him.
The ruling issued Thursday sends Beaman's case back to the 4th District Appellate Court in Springfield for more consideration of Beaman's claims against former investigators Tim Freesmeyer, Dave Warner and Frank Zayas, all retired.
The Illinois Supreme Court reversed Beaman's conviction in 2008 after he had served about 13 years of a 50-year sentence. The state later dismissed the murder charges against Beaman.
In 2013, the state issued a certificate of innocence to Beaman and in 2015, then-Gov. Pat Quinn pardoned Beaman "based upon innocence as if no conviction."
David Shapiro, one of Beaman's lawyers, said Thursday: "This important precedent is Alan’s second unanimous victory in the Supreme Court. He will continue his lifelong fight for justice and accountability. It’s an honor to represent him."
In the decision that revives Beaman's civil lawsuit, the Supreme Court advised the appellate court to review whether the detectives' direct involvement in the case was a proximate cause of criminal charges being filed against Beaman. Attorneys for the town and the officers contend the decision to file charges against Beaman was made by prosecutors and not the officers.
Shapiro argued to the Supreme Court in September that the lower court erred when it dismissed Beaman's lawsuit alleging misconduct by the three officers. The appellate court concurred with the lower court decision.
Beaman's lawyers contend Freesmeyer lied to a grand jury considering indictments against Beaman by withholding information of a second suspect, a man who had dated Lockmiller and had a history of drug use and domestic violence.
The alleged improper influence by the Normal investigators on former prosecutors led to the malicious prosecution of Beaman, his lawyers argued.
Federal court actions filed by Beaman against the officers, the town and former State's Attorney Charles Reynard and former prosecutor Jim Souk, who both went on to serve as circuit judges, were unsuccessful. Souk and Reynard were dropped from the lawsuit based on immunity, and claims against other defendants also were dismissed.
In 2014, Beaman filed a lawsuit in state court against the three former officers and the town alleging malicious prosecution, emotional distress and civil conspiracy.
Beaman resides in Rockford with his wife and two daughters.
True Crime: Cold cases of Central Illinois
Cocaine — A LeRoy man faces cocaine charges.
William D. Tuley, 26, is charged with three counts of delivery of a controlled substance during alleged drug transactions in Normal. He was jailed in lieu of posting $5,035.
Cocaine — Drug charges are pending against a Bloomington man.
Alonzo Whitfield, 33, of the 2100 block of Rainbow Avenue, is charged with five counts of delivery of cocaine. The alleged drug sales reportedly occurred in Normal. He was jailed in lieu of posting $25,035.
FLANAGAN — A Flanagan-Cornell High School student was taken into custody Tuesday after several fights broke out at the school, and a police officer and teacher were assaulted, officials said.
The 18-year-old student, Andrew Kozak, is accused of assaulting a resource officer and a teacher, said Livingston County Sheriff Tony Childress.
Kozak is charged with two counts of aggravated battery and is being held at the Livingston County Jail in lieu of $5,000, Childress said.
Other students also were involved in the fights on Tuesday and disciplinary action will be taken, said Superintendent Jerry Farris.
“This is very unusual for our school. We have a small, close family-like school,” Farris said, with fewer than 200 students in the high school. “They all know everybody.”
Childress said his department's investigation is ongoing.
NORMAL — Police in Normal are investigating an armed robbery near the Illinois State University campus late Sunday night.
Police said around 11:30 p.m., a man reported being robbed in the 1200 block of North School Street near Belview Avenue, north of the ISU campus. The victim told police there were three black men in a grey or silver SUV and at least one of them had a gun. They demanded cash and personal property and then fled south on School Street.
There were no injuries reported and no arrests have been made.
The incident triggered an ISU Emergency Alert at 11:47 p.m. for students, faculty and staff.
Anyone with information is asked to call Normal Police at 309-454-9535.
If you want to remain anonymous, call McLean County Crime Stoppers at 309-828-1111. If your call leads to the arrest and indictment of suspect(s) you may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
Police have previously said one individual may be responsible for at least seven of nine previous armed robberies at local businesses since Dec. 8. Because of that connection, the police have given that suspect a nickname in hopes of drawing more attention to the cases.
Police said the “Business Bandit” is a black male who is 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall with a medium build. In several of the incidents, the suspect was wearing a black hooded jacket with button or snap pockets on the front sides of the coat.
