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Local officers help with crowd control outside G-20 Summit

BY BRITTANY PALMER - News-Democrat

A group of law enforcement officers from the metro-east participated in "Operation Task Force Illinois" to assist with controlling protesters and civil unrest at the G-20 Summit Sept. 22-26 in Pittsburgh.

Illinois Region 8 of the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System (ILEAS) Mobile Field Force formed in March 2006 and consists of officers from 19 police and sheriff's departments from Madison, St. Clair and Monroe counties.

G-20, more formally known as The Group of Twenty, consists of finance ministers and Central Bank governors from 19 countries, including the United States. It was established in 1999 to discuss the global economy.

Commander George D. Mokriakow said ILEAS is a mutual-aid organization that takes local law enforcement personnel and trains them in mobile field force techniques.

Q: Who would pick up a hitchhiker with a chainsaw? A: Deputies

News-Democrat

A Belleville man was arrested Saturday morning after a sheriff's deputy spotted him hitchhiking down Illinois 15 while carrying a stolen chainsaw.

Donald F. Aten, 42, of 8301 Old St. Louis Road near Belleville, was charged with burglary and a subsequent felony theft in connection with the burglary of a home in the 200 block of South Belt West at 5:25 a.m. Saturday.

St. Clair County Sheriff's Deputy Russ Taylor and two other deputies responded to a call about a burglary in progress Saturday morning, said Capt. Steve Johnson.

Donald F. Aten, 42, of 8301 Old St. Louis Road, Belleville. - Provided/BND

Guard Suspended After St. Clair County Jail Escape

 

Jailer suspended after bungled inmate release

By Nicholas J.C. Pistor

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Friday, Sep. 11 2009

BELLEVILLE -- St. Clair County Sheriff Mearl Justus said on Friday a jail correctional officer will be suspended without pay for 30 days following the bungled release of an inmate.

Elijah Muhammad, 60, posed as another inmate who was being released on bondlast month, and was allowed to walk out of the jail. He was later nabbed in Dallas when he tried to get a drivers license. Justus said a jail correctional officer didn’t do his job and will be punished by going a month without pay. However, Justus declined to release the name of the employee or his salary.

"The officer didn’t follow procedure," Justus said. "He didn’t do the normal checks."

Suspect in custody while police continue Cahokia shooting investigation

News-Democrat

St. Clair County Sheriff's investigators continue to questions witnesses about a Thursday afternoon shooting that led to a police perimeter set up around a Caseyville home.

The suspect in the shooting, whose name has not been released pending charges, remains in custody in the St. Clair County Jail.

The shooting began around 3 p.m. Thursday at the intersection of Amelia and Judith drives in the Parkfield Terrace subdivision in unincorporated Cahokia when the suspect walked up to the car the victim was in at a stop sign and shot him in the face, according to St. Clair County Sheriff's Chief Investigator Capt. Steve Johnson.

According to witnesses, the victim and the suspect were involved in a disagreement shortly before the shooting.