Misdemeanor charge for May overpass incident suddenly becomes a felony (UPDATED)
I emailed Peoria Police Chief Steve Settingsgaard and asked him if he could provide additional details about the youth being questioned for this week’s fatal incident of a rock being tossed from the Broadway overpass over Interstate 74. Specifically, I wanted to know the timeline regarding charges the felony charge regarding a similar incident in May in which no one was hurt. It struck me odd that a 14-year-old “person of interest” in the recent fatal incident was just arrested this week for an incident that happened in May. Basically, I wanted to know when the charges were filed. This is Chief Settingsgaard’s reply, which I will repost without comment for now, other than to thank him for his prompt reply:
Bill, this will be a difficult subject to discuss for a couple of reasons that I will state, but I will do my best to be as informative as I can.
As for information restrictions: We are dealing with a juvenile which invokes identity protections. Also, there are pending cases involved, including a case involving a death and I must be careful not to say anything that would hamper the potential prosecution. The successful identification and prosecution of the person who caused the death of the victim is first priority.
The May case for which the juvenile has now been arrested was not initially written as a felony charge. It was originally written up as 2 misdemeanor cases, Reckless Conduct and Criminal Damage to Property, and there was not arrest warrant issued. As I have been told today, the S.A.O. [state's attorney's office] is pursuing the Felony charge of Vehicular Endangerment for the May case. This juvenile continues to be a person of interest in the fatality case as well.
UPDATE: Now there’s conflicting information from the newspaper report that provides apparently conflicting information. From the article posted Tuesday on the Journal Star Website:
Rather, the 14-year-old was ordered held in custody at the county’s juvenile detention center for allegedly violating his probation by throwing a rock off the University Street overpass on May 6 and striking a truck on the interstate.
Huh? Is he being held on a newly minted felony charge from the May incident or not? One would think that the details the SAO is giving Chief Settingsgaard wouldn’t conflcit with what is being given reporters.
And if he violated probation in May, why wasn’t he taken off the streets in May? I’d like to see Kevin Lyons stand before a microphone in front of a bunch of reporters and made answer a few questions. But Lyons only holds press conferences to announce how he’s going to seek the dealth penalty (which he never does) and how other members of the justice system don’t live up to his lofty standards.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
Not sure what it means, but it does seem to be a well written and thoughtul response. Now he just needs to go out and kick some a**
Nice work, Bill. Thanks for getting the word from the Chief.
Why not write to the SAO instead of just attacking them. The charges are the same class so a probation violation or a new charge would merit the same punishment. The burden of proof is less on a probation violation.
Billy simply hates Kevin Lyons. He can’t wait to get Ray Lahood’s baby boy in the office.
[...] tossed something from the University overpass. There are still conflicting stories out there as to whether those charges were elevated to felonies from misdemeanors, or whether he’s charged with probation violation from a burglary. And today’s Journal [...]