A Beardstown man has pleaded guilty and been sentenced following an hours-long armed standoff this past Fall.
According to the Cass County Sheriff’s Department, officers with the Beardstown Police Department and the Cass County Sheriff’s office were dispatched to a home in the 200 block of Adams Street in Beardstown shortly after 8 p.m. on October 17, 2025 for a report of shots fired.
When officers arrived, additional gunshots were heard and a man went inside the residence, refusing to come back out. Two other occupants were able to leave the home safely, leaving the suspect as the only remaining person inside. Law enforcement established a perimeter around the residence and developed probable cause to obtain a search warrant. After several hours of negotiations that extended into the early morning hours of October 18, officers took 44-year-old Elias Sanchez de la Cruz of Beardstown into custody without further incident. No injuries to officers or nearby residents were reported.
Court records show that on Thursday, February 19 in Cass County Circuit Court, Sanchez de la Cruz entered a negotiated plea of guilty to one count of Class 4 felony reckless discharge of a firearm. The plea was entered before Circuit Judge Timothy J. Wessel. As part of the plea agreement, a Class A misdemeanor charge of unlawful possession of a weapon was dismissed. Sanchez de la Cruz was sentenced to 12 months of probation, fined $200 and assessed court costs. He was given credit for 24 days served.