(Information in this report is gathered from police agencies, county courts and emergency radio dispatch. The public is reminded that defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty and charges may sometimes be dropped or changed as part of the legal process.)

Columbia Police

May 8

The public was alerted to a phone scam with victims from the Columbia area receiving texts falsely claiming to be Immaculate Conception Church Father Carl Scherrer. The scammer requested those texted to purchase gift cards as a favor for the priest. 

May 13

No injuries were reported in a two-vehicle crash that occurred just before 8 a.m. on Route 3 at North Main Street in Columbia. Police said a 2016 Isuzu NPR box truck driven by Marcus Albright, 24, of Pacific, Mo., was traveling south on Route 3 and attempted to turn left onto North Main with a green light but no arrow. His truck was struck by a Beelman tractor-trailer driven by Jacob Hanke, 37, of Richview, that was traveling north on Route 3. Albright was cited for failure to yield (turning left). 

May 16

Jo Ellan Auble, 29, of St. Louis, was arrested forDUI on Lakeshore Drive at Micah’s Way.

Dupo Police

May 16

Local law enforcement agencies were following and attempting to locate a car out of Collinsville that led police throughout Columbia and rural Monroe and St. Clair counties late Saturday morning. The suspect vehicle was a blue Chevrolet Cruze with a license plate that returned out of Collinsville. Dupo Police Sgt. Mike Sullivan said his department was conducting an Illinois Department of Transportation traffic safety detail on I-255 when this vehicle passed a patrol car at a high rate of speed. Dupo police attempted to get the vehicle to pull over, but it continued south into Columbia. Police vehicles from Dupo, Columbia and Monroe County were tracking the car as it was seen traveling south in the 800 block of D Road, turning into the Eagle Lakes subdivision and driving through a yard, then continuing on Steppig Road and Gall Road at high speeds to Route 3, then south on Route 3 at a high rate of speed to Route 158. It was then seen on Bluffside Road near the 6900 block of St. Francis Rock Road and continued on Stemler Road. The pursuit was terminated due to dangerous speeds and the reckless manner in which the suspect vehicle was traveling, Sullivan said. An Illinois State Police Emergency Radio Network alert was broadcast for neighboring agencies to be on the lookout. Dupo police contacted the Collinsville Police Department for information on the vehicle owner, after which police were able to reach a woman and her son, who typically drives the car. The son, a juvenile, gave police the name of an O’Fallon teen who was driving the car with his permission. That person, Thomas C. Kish, 18, faces a felony charge of aggravated fleeing and eluding police.

St. Clair County Sheriff

May 19

The Columbia Fire Department and Columbia EMS responded along with the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department to a vehicle crash in the area of Cement Hollow Road at Imbs Station Road near Dupo at about 1:45 p.m. The vehicle was reported to be in a wooded area. The female driver was safely removed the vehicle and treated by EMS.

Waterloo Police

April 25

William W. Freestone, 39, of Red Bud, was charged with retail theft following an alleged incident at Walmart.