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Couple attacked, shot fired as they arrive home east of Belleville

BY JENNIFER A. BOWEN

News-Democrat

 

A couple in their 50s were returning home about midnight Saturday when they were attacked and robbed in their driveway near Belleville, according to investigators with the St. Clair County sheriff's department.

 

The wife was hurt by a man who tried to take her purse and dragged her down the driveway. The husband had a gun held to his head by one robber while the other fired a shot.

 

St. Clair County Sheriff's Capt. Steve Johnson said the robbery and attack was around midnight Saturday in the 1100 block of Five Forks Drive, which is an unincorporated portion of Belleville's east end. Police have not released the couple's names.

Cops find Belleville man in bedroom closet with loaded .38

News-Democrat

A Belleville man is in the St. Clair County Jail after deputies said they found a loaded gun while they were investigating a battery complaint.

Tyler E. Evans, 23, was charged with the aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. His bail was set at $100,000.

St. Clair County sheriff's deputies arrived at an apartment at 1045 Brookshire, Apt. 5, about 8 p.m. Wednesday for a report of a battery that had happened earlier on Lindbergh Circle in Belleville. Police searched the apartment for Evans and eventually located him in a bedroom closet with a loaded .38-caliber revolver in his possession, said St. Clair County Drug Tactical Unit Supervisor William Kenny.

According to court documents, Evans has been convicted several times for drug possession, domestic battery and leaving the scene of an accident.

Read more: http://www.bnd.com/2010/04/17/1219368/police-find-belleville-suspect.html#ixzz0lMxaQ75M

Law Enforcement Task Force in East St. Louis Making a Difference

 

EAST ST. LOUIS, IL (KTVI - FOX2now.com) - A violent crime task force crack down is paying off in East St. Louis. The task force, called WAVE, "Working Against Violent Elements" is made up of members of the United States Marshal's Service, the East St. Louis Police Department, the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southwestern Illinois (MEGSI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department. WAVE made three more arrests Tuesday night in 800 block of 71st while coming under gunfire; just the latest arrests in a dramatic three month turn-around in East St. Louis crime since WAVE started its work.

Terror in the projects: East St. Louis residents live a life under siege

 

By CAROLYN P. SMITH - News-Democrat

EAST ST. LOUIS -- Being a Mom is challenging enough, but imagine having to warn your kids to get away from the windows during gunfire.

Welcome to East St. Louis.

Some mothers say people are being robbed at gunpoint with regularity for $5, $10, or $20 -- basically all the money they have -- as they leave their residences to walk to a nearby grocery store.

Clusters of gun-wielding young men wearing baggy pants and oversized T-shirts and hoodies crowd the entrances to the complexes and strike fear in many of the residents.

Residents like Kimberly Rosebud say they're pleased that help has come their way.

They said the violence in the East St. Louis area had gotten out of hand and, by itself, the East St. Louis Police Department could not handle the crime.