GREENE PRAIRIE PRESS JANUARY 8, 2014 – Vol. 145, No. 2 – Carrollton, Illinois 62016
INSIDE LOCALS
Salt truck stolen from city of White Hall By CArmeN eNSiNger Greene Prairie Press
Carrollton girls compete in JPRD basketball league. See page A3
NEWS
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White Hall Police started the new year off on a rather sour note, investigating a theft and break-in at their own city garage, which resulted in numerous charges against 25-yearold Shane Seymoure of rural Roodhouse. White Hall Police Chief Jack Wallis said his department received a call around 6:45 a.m. alerting the department that the city’s salt spreader was laying in the middle of the road on Curtis Street. “We went down and checked it out and thought it looked a lot like the one the city had on the back of its dump truck that it used to spread salt at the intersections when it snowed,” Wallis said. “We went down to the city garage and sure enough, our truck and the salt box was gone.” The building had been broken into and vandalized and the city’s one-ton dump truck had been stolen.
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While officers were still on the scene at the city garage assessing the situation and damage, a call came in from the mayor of Patterson who had spotted the truck going through Patterson at a speed of around 75 mph. Officers from White Hall, Roodhouse, Scott County Sheriff’s Department, Winchester Police Department and the Illinois State Police gave chase. “We all converged on the area and the Roodhouse officer spotted him first,” Wallis said. “We tried to cut him off but he got through and just kept going. He ended up getting all the way to Alsey where he jumped out of the car and started off on foot, running into a field and then into the woods.” Officers surrounded the area and while waiting for the K-9 unit to arrive Seymoure walked out of the woods and gave himself up to officers who had driven into the field. He was not armed and was placed into custody and taken to Greene County Jail.
A considerable amount of damage was done to the city truck – not from the chase but from the joyride Seymoure had taken it on prior to this. “Basically, he just run the heck out of it before we noticed it was stolen,” Wallis said. “You could see in the fields where he had done donuts in all the fields all the way around wherever he went. There are also marks in the roadway where he was just spinning in circles. Someone even seen him running the bed up and down on the dump truck, which is probably when he dumped the salt box on Curtis Street.” Wallis estimates Seymoure had been joyriding in the truck for at least two hours prior to his apprehension. “There were parts of the salt spreader and the truck found out towards Hanors on the east side and we found the top off the salt spreader out past the laboratory,” Wallis said. “It totally destroyed the salt spreader.” Wallis said the salt spreader was dumped
out of the truck on the end where all the working mechanisms are located and completely ruined it along with the full load of salt it was carrying. The truck itself sustained major damage as did a Roodhouse patrol car that crashed while in pursuit of Seymoure. There was also a great deal of damage at the city garage. “He sprayed paint on the floors, computer monitors, the stool in the bathroom and urinal and painted the wheels on the backhoe,” Wallis said. “He also painted over the city emblem on the truck with paint. We really don’t know what he was thinking.” Between the two vehicles, computers and other damage at the city garage, Wallis estimates the damage to be at $40,000 to $50,000. Seymoure was charged with DUI, aggravated fleeing and attempting to elude police officers, driving with suspended license, burglary, theft of a motor vehicle and criminal damage to state supported property. Bail was set at $25,000.
Man charged in May traffic accident
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By CArmeN eNSiNger Greene Prairie Press
‘Rapid Response’ simulation. See page B1
NEWS
Carmen Ensinger/Greene Prairie Press
Three-year-old Chloe mcAdams wanted in on the action at the concession stand during a recent Carrollton Hawk basketball game and insisted on helping out during the rush between games .
News from the pews. See page A7
SPORTS
Hawks get revenge win vs. Tornadoes See page B8
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Obituaries in this issue: beery, CarriCO, MOnrOe, slOw
© 2014 Greene Prairie Press
Seven months after a single vehicle crash took the life of a Carrollton woman, charges of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol which resulted in the death of an individual have been filed against the surviving occupant of the vehicle. Gary L. Hillis, 36, of Carrollton, turned himself into the Greene County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday, Dec. 31 at approximately 4:56 p.m. pursuant to a Greene County warrant issued for his arrest on Dec. 27. “This charge is the result of an extensive and lengthy investigation into the May 2, 2013 single vehicle traffic accident, conducted by the Greene County Sheriff’s Department, which caused the death of Brandy J. Gilbert, 32, of Carrollton,” Greene County Sheriff Rob McMillen said. The delay in the filing of charges was due to the department waiting on lab results, in addition to waiting on the findings of traffic accident re-constructionists who assisted the sheriff’s department in this investigation. “In my 24 years of law enforcement experience, this has been one of the most difficult and challenging investigations that I have been a part of due to the fact that when emergency responders first arrived on the scene of the crash, both Mr. Hillis and Ms. Gilbert were both outside of the vehicle,” McMillen said. “There were also no witnesses that observed who was driving the vehicle involved in the crash.” The vehicle, owned by Hillis, left the roadway on State Rt. 108 west of Carrollton, traveled down a steep embankment, and the passenger side door area of the vehicle collided with a utility pole. When interviewed about the accident, Hillis denied being the driver of the vehicle. “From the beginning, the evidence collected and the fatal injuries (See, ACCidEnt, A2)
GPP year in review part two Simulated school shooting prepares officers for the worst JULY Steve and Nancy Shive opened the Ice Cream Depot on the corner of Worcester and West Clay in May of this year serving a wide variety of ice cream products like cones, sundaes, malts, shakes, slushies, along with sandwiches. Members of the Carrollton United Methodist Church and Pastor Sara Brown invite everyone to share in a commemorative celebration recognizing 180 years of Christian service to parishioners and fellow citizens of Carrollton and surrounding communities on Sunday, July 7 from 2 to 5 p.m. Carrollton and White Hall United Methodist Church Pastor Sara Brown and her husband will leave on July 20 for a 10-day trip along with nine other members from the West Ohio UMC Conference to the tropics of Bolivia where they run a teacher’s conference aimed at embracing disabilities. The city of Greenfield is looking into a municipal electric aggregation program to possibly save residents money on their electric bills. Roodhouse water customers will see an increase on their upcoming water bills after the city council approved 5-1 an ordinance increasing the base rate for water customers $4.35. The increase will raise the basic water rate from $42.51 to $46.86 to satisfy conditions of the $6.3 million USDA water plant loan. The increase actually covers two years of increases. The rate should have been increased last year to cover May 2012 through 2013 but the rates were never raised. Greenfield resident Doris Hudson said her six-year-old grandson, Grant Hudson, who is going to be a first grader at Greenfield Elementary, saved her life after she became trapped by a water drainage grate near the bus shed in Greenfield. AUgUst Hawk pride will shine even brighter this season at the concession stand at the football field after artwork was added to the specially made concrete countertop by a former graduate. Kayla Lovel, a 2012 graduate of Carrollton High School and a talented artist, spent two days painting the team mascot, the hawk, on the etched figure, which had been carved into the countertop made and created by Mark Steckel. St. John’s Catholic School might be small in numbers, but they are number one when it comes to showing school spirit and being Cardinal’s fans. The Cardinals showed their appreciation by awarding the school the “2013 Doin’ It Right Most School Spirit” award along with 75 free tickets to the game
against the Los Angeles Dodgers and a pregame party for all 75 ticket holders. Carrollton School District learned last Friday they were the recipient of a $10,000 grant from the Monsanto Corporation. The center of a new book which just recently hit the bookstores is none other than the sleepy little village of Hillview – which in the early 1900s was anything but sleepy or peaceful. The Witwer Files chronicles the events leading up to the 1915 killing of Clarence Deeds in Hillview by town marshal Charlie Witwer, who was tried for Deed’s murder later that same year and exonerated. The book was written by D.L. Dennis, the 78-year-old grandson of Charlie Witwer who will be in Greene County during Greene County Days for a book signings in Carrollton, White Hall and Eldred. sEPtEMBER North Greene Superintendent Les Stevens presented some very good news to school board members at the August meeting regarding the tentative budget for this year. The district is still looking at a deficit budget for the coming year with an anticipated deficit of $213,607, but it is much less than what numbers were last year. Arson charges have been filed against Nathan D. Settles, 34, following a fire in Kane on Aug. 28 in which the home of Paul D. Settles located at 101 Mill Street was completely destroyed. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn recently signed a bill lowering the mandatory age a child must be in school from seven years old to six starting in the fall of 2014. Ground was broken Wednesday, Sept. 11 on land across from Fry Park in Carrollton which will be the future home of Walnut Estates, a multi-million dollar affordable housing project being built for medium to low income families. A total of 34 rental units in single-story townhomes will be spread out over three sites in Carrollton and White Hall. Walnut Estates will contain 22 ranch style two and three bedroom townhouses with two car garages; four will be built at Hawkland Estates and six will be built at Tunison Court in White Hall. Effective Oct. 1, Roodhouse utility customers who are billed and pay month by month must pay their total due before the 26th day of the month to avoid being disconnected. The city billing clerk will not be able to negotiate and accept a partial payment amount in order to prevent disconnection. oCtoBER The historic Fry octagon barn stood proudly in the same spot across from Fry (See, YEAR in REviEw, A2)
By CArmeN eNSiNger Greene Prairie Press The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., awoke in everyone the very real possibility that a school shooting can happen almost anywhere – even in the sleepiest of towns – and law enforcement officers must be ready should something as devastating as this happen in Greene County. It was with this in mind that officers from Carrollton, Roodhouse, White Hall, Greenfield police departments and officers from the Greene County Sheriff’s Department converged on Carrollton Grade School during the school break for a two-day training called “Rapid Response to an Active Shooter.” A new Illinois law requires school districts to conduct at least one active shooter drill at the school each year. Several months ago, law enforcement was approached by the various school districts in the county about law enforcement participating in an active shooter drill at the schools. “The police chiefs of Carrollton, White Hall, Roodhouse and Greenfield and myself started a group discussion about participating in such a drill,” Greene County Sheriff Rob McMillen said. “We asked for some training to guide us in responding to a school shooting call and enlisted the help of Eric Pingel of West Central Illinois Criminal Justice Council to get us this type of training.” The two-day training course consisted of classroom instruction on Friday and hands-on action on Saturday. “The officers who attended were trained on how to respond to an active shooter in a school,”
Carmen Ensinger/Greene Prairie Press
mike Brown, a member of the Collinsville Police Department, checks out the weapons before handing them out to officers Saturday morning during the rapid response to an Active Shooter training at the Carrollton grade School designed to give officers a hands on experience with a school shooter and/or hostage situation .
McMillen said. “But the response would work in almost any type of call that law enforcement would respond to – not just a school setting.” Officers were instructed how to enter a building and how to safely move to the location where the shooter may be. “We were trained on how to engage the shooter and how to put an end to the shooter harming other people,” McMillen said. “The training also gave us instruction on what we (See, shooting, A2)
Attempted escape foiled By CArmeN eNSiNger Greene Prairie Press The new year started off very poorly for a Carrollton man after a failed escape attempt from the Greene County Jail. Andrew L. Poore, 20, of Carrollton, was arrested by the Carrollton Police Department on Jan. 3 at approximately 1:07 p.m. on a Jersey County warrant for Failure to Appear and was sitting handcuffed in a holding room in the Greene County Jail awaiting extradition to Jersey County. Greene County Sheriff Rob McMillen said as a correctional officer was exiting the jail, C
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from the holding room, Poore ran out behind him before the door closed. The correctional officer attempted to prevent Poore from escaping; however, he was struggling away from the officer. A brief foot pursuit ensued and at approximately 1:25 p.m. Poore was taken back into custody and was returned to the Greene County Jail and charged for the escape attempt. Poore was not armed at the time of the escape and neither Poore nor the correctional officer were injured during the escape attempt. Bond was set for Poore in the amount of $2,500.