Illinois State Police District 13, received a report of a car verses pedestrian crash. The location was reported to be Rt 149 at I 57 near West Frankfort.
On Sept. 10, a residence located at 436 S. 15th Street in Murphysboro exploded due to a natural gas leak.
The house was completely destroyed, and its burning structure members landed on and ignited the houses immediately north and south of the residence. Those houses were destroyed by fire. Other houses in the immediate area received major structural damage, and many others were subject to broken windows.
A major drug bust netting thousands of dollars in cash and more than 100 cannabis plants with a street value up to $500,000 occurred Monday evening, Sept. 26, at 443 Murphy St. in Murphysboro, according to Illinois State Police.
Stephen G. Kopecky, 29, who lived at that home, was arrested and charged with unlawful production of cannabis plants and the manufacturing or delivery of more than 500 grams of cannabis -- both felonies, according to Illinois State Police at District 13 in DuQuoin. He was being held at the Jackson County Jail, pending a first appearance.
Barbara Hughes was not at home on Saturday night when an explosion rocked her neighborhood in the 400 block of South 15th Street on Saturday evening. But Hughes' husband, Jim, was at home at the time of the blast.
The pair live just a couple houses south of the home that was completely destroyed by the blast, and their home received plenty of damage. Two more homes were destroyed by the fire that followed the explosion.
Firefighters are used to going out on calls at all times of the day. Some calls are routine. Others are not.
The explosion that rocked the 400 block of South 15th Street in Murphysboro on Saturday evening was anything but routine. However, when firefighters arrived to the scene they assessed the situation just like they do on any other call.
An explosion in the 400 block of South 15th Street in Murphysboro destroyed three houses on Saturday evening.
First responders rushed to the scene of the explosion at 436 South 15th Street. That home was completely destroyed by the blast, and the residences on either side were in flames when fire fighters and police officers arrived.
A Sheriff’s Deputy from the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department was arrested today after an internal investigation revealed that the officer unlawfully confiscated evidence from task force seizures.
In August 2011, the Southern Illinois Enforcement Group (SIEG) developed information regarding inappropriate conduct of a law enforcement officer assigned to the SIEG. It was alleged that the officer had unlawfully obtained cannabis evidence from a SIEG seizure earlier this year, and transferred the cannabis to a third party to sell.
Information was released on July 27, 2011, regarding the July 26 incident in Tamms, Illinois, in which Bobby Curtis, 48, of Panama City, Florida, was shot by an Alexander County Sheriff’s Department deputy after Curtis brandished a sword in a threatening manner toward the deputy.
At 9:20 a.m. on the morning of Thursday, July 7, Illinois State Police K-9 Officer Trooper Steven Steckenrider stopped a 1998 Freightliner truck tractor semi-trailer combination on I-57 northbound at milepost 8. Trooper Steckenrider conducted a Motor Carrier Safety inspection on the vehicle. During the course of the inspection, Trooper Steckenrider’s partner Ace, a certified law enforcement canine officer, alerted to the presence of a controlled substance inside the vehicle.
Illinois State Police Zone 7 Investigations arrested two individuals regarding an arson investigation in Alexander County. Richard Scott Pitcher, age 18, of Cairo and David Patrick, age 22, of Arlington, Kentucky were each charged with two counts of arson.
A 34-year-old Murphysboro woman died Tuesday afternoon as a result of injuries sustained in a horrific car and truck accident along Ill. Rt. 127 approximately five miles north of Pinckneyville.
Murphysboro Police were summoned last Friday to a traffic crash on North Second Street (Illinois Highway 13-127) and Industrial Park Road.
Murphysboro Police Officers were called to the intersection of Highway 13 and Country Club Road at 9:28 a.m. on Tuesday in reference to a truck versus passenger car traffic accident.
Arriving officers located the passenger car heavily damaged in the intersection. The box truck had left the roadway and came to a rest on the south side of Highway 13, just past the intersection.
Union County State's Attorney Tyier R. Edmonds announced today that Rondale Lee Chapman (DOB 09-19-1965) of 507 William Street in Anna, and formerly of 1722 Friendship School Road in rural Anna, has been indicted by the Union County Grand Jury on seven (7) counts of child pornography.
Over the past few weeks, the Murphysboro Fire Department “Filled the Boot” again this year for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The department has participated in this fundraiser for the past several years, and this year they raised $3,000 for MDA. They more than doubled their collections over last year.
The half-sister to a murdered Pinckneyville teen has been arrested for obstructing the investigation into Sidnee Stephens' death in July.
The arrest begs the question did Dakota Wall, 18, have knowledge that her half-sister had been killed before the outset of the investigation, even if she wasn't involved. Perry County Sheriff Keith Kellerman said he can't comment on the arrest, but adds his department believes there is clear evidence that Wall intentionally impeded the investigation of the task force and the state's attorney's office.
On Monday, August 2, the case against a juvenile suspect in the homicide of 15-year-old Pinckneyville runaway Sidnee Stephens was transferred from juvenile court into adult court. The transfer was conducted at a court hearing Monday morning in Perry County Court.
The third suspect, Robby Mueller, 15, of Pinckneyville, was charged with one count of first degree murder and one count of first degree murder (accountability).
Additional charges of sexual assault involving a child under 13 may be filed against the embattled Rev. Bill Vandergraph, according to law enforcement.
Also, the Illinois Department of Children Family Services has launched its own investigation of Vandergraph since the home owned by the 72-year-old Alto Pass pastor was a licensed foster parent home from 1994 until 2002, according to state records.
DCFS spokesman Kendall Marlowe said DCFS is conducting its "own parallel investigation" and working closely with law enforcement agencies involved in the Vandergraph case.
