A Jacksonville woman was severely injured after the car she was driving flipped over on South Diamond Street on Saturday morning.

Jacksonville Police, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue, and EMS responded to a single-vehicle crash with injuries report from the intersection of Edgehill Road and South Diamond at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. According to a Jacksonville Police report, a blue passenger car driven by 47-year old Angela L. Hearold of the 300 block of West Beecher Avenue was traveling northbound in the 600 block of South Diamond when it crossed over into the southbound lanes and struck the curb on the west side of the roadway. The vehicle continued northbound in the southbound lane of travel and then struck a utility pole. The vehicle continued northbound before eventually overturning onto its roof before coming to rest in the middle of the roadway.

Hearold was incapacitated from the crash and sustained major injuries. She taken by ambulance from the scene and later airlifted to St. John’s Hospital in Springfield. Her current condition is unknown.

Eye witnesses corroborated the narrative of the crash to police. No citations have been issued at this time and no further information is available.

Two Peoria men have been arrested for an alleged armed robbery that occurred Saturday night in Jacksonville.

According to a press release from the Jacksonville Police Department, at approximately 9:25 p.m. Saturday, officers with the Jacksonville Police Department, along with the Illinois State Police (ISP) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted an investigation and surveillance detail into two serial armed robbers, who were suspected of targeting a business in the 1100 block of West Morton Avenue.

Shortly after the surveillance detail began, the two suspects entered the business and committed an armed robbery. The suspects exited the business and entered into a suspect vehicle which was parked hidden, across the road. The ATF, ISP, and the Jacksonville Police Department were able to safely apprehend both suspects without incident. A single victim was treated by EMS and released at the scene.

The Jacksonville Police Department believes this was an isolated, targeted occurrence, and do not believe there is any further threat to our community as both suspects are in custody.

The two suspects have been identified as 43-year-old Mitchell R. Smith from East Peoria Illinois, and 32-year-old Titus J. Alexander from Peoria Illinois. Both remain held at the Morgan County Jail.

If anyone has any further information regarding this investigation, or any other investigation, please contact the Jacksonville Police Department or Crime Stoppers at (217) 479-4630. Additional information may be received with the ATF at (312) 846-7200.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office has issued the following alert as of 7:05PM Saturday, May 17:

Cass County Sheriff’s Office is assisting a police department in Missouri with a missing person with a medical condition. This person was in Beardstown and left southbound on US HWY 67. Subject is driving a black 2009 Honda Civic…License number JB6V8C out of Missouri. Please dial 911 or call the local police if you see this vehicle.

The new Jacksonville City Council was seated last night and Mayor Andy Ezard says aldermen have a lot of work ahead of them.

After swearing in of the new council and a pinning ceremony for a promotion of Corey Foster to sergeant in the Jacksonville Police Department, the better part of the workshop session was spent on a presentation by Dr. Charles Sheaff about the Jacksonville Promise scholarship program and discuss matching a contribution of Rabbi Rob & Lauren Thomas for operation funding for the Jacksonville Area Museum. There was also lengthy discussion about a proposed ordinance to make camping on public property illegal.

The council adjourned the workshop session at 7:15 and completed the rest of the discussion during the regular business meeting.

Mayor Andy Ezard says that the unhoused camping ordinance and the 1% grocery sales tax are being moved as items to the scheduled meeting on May 27: “At the next meeting in two weeks, the Tuesday after Memorial Day, we will be spending most of our time on [the 1% tax], I would imagine. We had a full agenda tonight with some important topics so that grocery tax will be pushed back to that next meeting in May. We are still in good shape as far as our timeliness goes to pass that and discuss if that’s the case, but we will do that at the next meeting.”

In business that was passed during the meeting, the city approved a $25,000 fund from the revolving loan fund for Marcy Patterson and Kathleen Mann to purchase Kim’s Other Place and rebrand it to the X’s & O’s Donuts and Bakery on West Morton as well as several zoning requests and two demolitions. The council also approved a liquor license reclassification for Guse’s Pub & Eatery from a tavern license to a restaurant license, the hiring of a probationary hoseman to the fire department, and accepting a proposal to begin potholing by Rouland Construction for lead service line inventory.

Morgan County Coroner Marcy Patterson has released the name of the man killed in a two-vehicle crash involving a motorcyle and truck on IL-267 south of Jacksonville over the weekend.

Timothy Pennington, 60, of Greenfield was pronounced deceased at the scene. According to crash reports, Pennington’s motorcyle and a pickup truck were traveling southbound on IL-267near Lake Jacksonville Road, when for an undisclosed reasons, the motorcycle struck the rear of the pickup. The highway was closed for approximately 5 hours due to reconstruction and clean up of the scene.

An autopsy is scheduled for today.

A Carrollton man was sentenced to 20 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections in Greene County Circuit Court on multiple weapons and sex offenses Friday morning.

Greene County State’s Attorney Craig Grummell said in a press release that William “Billy” Orr, 60, of Carrollton was sentenced to 20 years in IDOC for unlawful possession of a firearm and firearm ammunition by a felon and possession of child pornography.

Orr was arrested on March 20, 2024 after a search was conducted by members of the Greenfield Police, Illinois State Police South Central Illinois Drug Task Force, and Greene County Sheriff’s Department, along with investigators from Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office at a residence in the 300 block of Main Street in Greenfield. The Greene County State’s Attorney’s Office initially charged Orr with five counts of possession of child pornography, four counts of failure to register as a sex offender, six counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, and three counts of possession of ammunition by a felon. At the time of his arrest, Orr was on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry stemming from a conviction in 2011 in Macoupin County Court for aggravated criminal sexual assault, and according to the report, has previously been convicted for failing to regularly report or correct his address information with authorities as a registered sex offender.

Orr pleaded guilty Friday morning to all of the charges before visiting Judge Tawnya Frioli. State’s Attorney Grummel extended special thanks to Illinois Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Peck and Illinois Attorney General Investigator Larry Rayburn for their collaboration on the case.

One person has been pronounced dead after a fatal two-vehicle crash north of Carrollton on US 67 Friday afternoon.

Eyewitness reports the crash occurred on the s-curve in the southbound lanes of US 67 at approximately 1 p.m. Friday. An ISP report says that ISP Troop 8 responded to the location for the report of a fatal, head-on collision. A black Ford Fiesta sedan reportedly crossed the center lane markings and struck a truck-tractor semi-trailer head-on. The driver of the sedan was reported deceased, while the semi driver reported no injuries.

Traffic was rerouted at the stop sign at the Carrollton Square going north. Southbound traffic was rerouted at Berdan Road, north of the scene. Providence Road was the only passable southbound way for traffic during the reroute. US 67 reopened at approximately 7:00 p.m. after a lengthy investigation and clean-up of the scene.

Greene County Coroner Brady Milnes confirmed the death of a 69-year-old man who was pronounced deceased at the scene on US Highway 67 near mile marker 12, according to an announcement released late Friday.

Milnes says the identity of the deceased is being withheld at this time pending notification of next of kin, and post-mortem procedures are scheduled for Saturday. The death remains under investigation by the Greene County Coroner’s Office, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, and the Illinois State Police.

No further information has been released at this time.

The Illinois State Police have confirmed an investigation into theft of funds at the Winchester EMS.

An anonymous email from a Scott County citizen was sent to several news outlets on April 26 saying that a member of the Winchester EMS “has been stealing…taxpayer money.” The email says that the Scott County Commissioners and EMS leadership were aware of the issue and the email reported that “EMS leadership is reportedly seeking to handle the investigation internally rather than involving the proper authorities.”

The Winchester EMS began receiving taxpayer funding in January 2024 after citizens passed an advisory referendum to set up a special service area tax. The referendum and funding was a four-year long back and forth battle between EMS’s leadership and the Scott County Commissioners for the EMS to remain in operation. As the referendum was written, the tax levy for the special service area would provide about $260,000 a year strictly to fund salaries, allowing the service to establish paid positions to alleviate the strain on volunteer members of the group. The quarterly payments on the salaries carry a requirement of incident reporting to the commissioners along with progress reports on ALS certification, among other items that are controlled by the county commissioners. The remainder of the funding for capital improvements and other items are funded through the EMS’s 501(c)3 status and private fundraising.

The Illinois State Police confirmed via email to The Source reporter and WLDS News correspondent Ben Cox on Friday that ISP Special Investigations has an open investigation referencing the theft of funds at the Winchester EMS. The email did not confirm any further information.

A phone call placed by Cox to the Scott County Commissioners with a message on May 1 has not been returned. An email inquiry with Scott County State’s Attorney Rick Crews’ office has also not been answered.

KHQA reported on April 29 that the State’s Attorney’s Office had launched an investigation into theft of taxpayer funds at the Winchester EMS. The report said that one employee had allegedly stolen taxpayer money despite the aforementioned requirements of the Special Service Area referendum. Winchester leadership said in a phone conversation with Cox on May 1 that their legal counsel has advised for them to make no public comment at this time as an investigation remains open and ongoing.

As of press time, no charges have been filed and no arrests have been made.

A Greene County man with multiple charges across several West Central Illinois counties was sentenced this morning to prison time in Greene County Circuit Court.

Charles W. Swarringim, 41, formerly of Roodhouse was sentenced to 1 year in the Illinois Department of Corrections for criminal damage to government supported property. Swarringim pleaded guilty to the Class 4 felony this morning after representing himself during court proceedings, according to Greene County State’s Attorney Craig Grummel.

The charges stem from an incident on April 15th in which Swarringim damaging a blanket at the Greene County Jail without consent.

Swarringim has several pending cases in Cass County, including Class X felony methamphetamine delivery and failure to return from furlough as a felon. Swarringim was initially arrested on the charges back on November 14, 2024 for incidents that had occurred in September 2024. Swarringim has failed to appear for court proceedings on multiple occasions since then, and has appeared as a Crime Stoppers Most Wanted individual.

Swarringim also has an open case in Morgan County stemming from a traffic stop arrest on July 23, 2023 for possession of methamphetamine between 5-15 grams and felony driving on a revoked license.

New court dates for those outstanding cases have not been announced. Swarringim was remanded to the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections immediately following the hearing.

A Springfield man pleaded guilty to a string of vehicle burglaries in hotel parking lots in Sangamon County on Friday, but is believed to be linked to over 100 thefts and burglaries across the region over the last two years.

Christian Halberstadt, 34, of Springfield pleaded guilty to the burglaries and was sentenced to 11 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, according to online court records. Capital City Now reports that Springfield Police identified Halberstadt in the series of burglaries in lots in the area of Dirksen Parkway between South Grand Avenue and Stevenson Drive. The incidents involved criminal damage to vehicles and theft of Milwaukee and Dewalt tools back in January. Officers arrested Halberstadt on 8 charges on January 31, and he’s been residing in the Sangamon County Jail since.

A news release from Springfield Deputy Chief Sara Pickford says that Halberstadt is also suspected to be involved in over 100 burglaries to vehicles in 2024 including several in Jacksonville, Decatur and in other locations in Sangamon County. Anyone with information concerning this investigation is being asked to call the Springfield Police Department at (217) 788-8311 or leave a tip with the Sangamon-Menard Crime Stoppers.