JOHNSON CO., Ill. - There's finally been a development in the case of a former Johnson County deputy's DUI-with-death crash that occurred earlier this year.
Court records indicate that Ed Parkinson, of the Illinois Appellate Prosecutor's office in Springfield, has stepped in on a conflict with Johnson County State's Attorney Tambra Cain, as she had to recuse herself in the case of a JC deputy, Cyle Harner, and his DUI accident in March 2018 that claimed the life of another man.
And while the charges aren't quite as serious as many believed they might be, they are at least something, albeit not something that might be afforded a regular citizen, given that Harner is a former deputy in JC as well as the former sheriff's son (former sheriff Charles Harner resigned about a month after the accident, citing "family needing him at home" as the reason for the resignation).
It's been determined after nine months that Cyle Harner, 28 of Vienna, was the one behind the wheel of a truck that, at a little after 2 a.m. on the morning of March 22, 2018, went off the road at a high rate of speed (later determined to have been 93 mph) on Illinois 146 outside of Vienna in what was very obviously an accident fueled by some kind of substance (later determined to have been booze, with a BAC at .22, almost three times the legal limit) or at the very least, bad behavior brought on by such.
Initial reports were evidently purposefully vague, prompting many JC residents to contact Disclosure regarding the matter. We produced this article in the May edition (you will need an online membership to the e-Edition, available at the hotlink if you don't have one), which is the first article produced to indicate what other media was leaving out but what everyone pretty much already knew: That Cyle Harner and buddies Tyler Inman and Troy Newman had been drinking heavily at Big Boys at the Loop, a bar popular with the Vienna prison employees crowd, and that the young Harner, who owned the truck, was likely the one behind the wheel and behaving stupidly. The ensuing accident claimed the life of Newman; however, it wasn't his family, but rather was Inman and his family, who filed a civil lawsuit against Harner in June of 2018, seeking damages against Harner as well as Big Boys (in a dram shop petition).
Harner, upon Parkinson requesting a thorough investigation into the matter, was finally arrested last week and now stands charged with three felonies in differing degrees: Class 2 felony DUI Causing Accident/Death; Class 3 felony Reckless Homicide with a Motor Vehicle; and Class 4 felony Aggravated DUI Causing an Accident with Great Bodily Harm. While the Class 2 felony is indeed serious, all charges are probationable upon conviction...and many in JC are decrying that situation. However, despite Parkinson's best efforts, he can only charge with the evidence he's presented, and the evidence doesn't bear out anything more serious.
In the meantime, simpering mainstream media is presenting the situation as if they've never heard of favoritism being shown toward public officials in the state of Illinois. With disingenuous rhetorical questions being posed in such articles as one a local TV station produced - "Parkinson filed charges against Harner Wednesday, but why did it take so long?" - they appear to be verging on inviting a credibility issue...because OF COURSE Johnson County residents know why it "took so long": In Illinois, and particularly in deep downstate Illinois, public officials are a protected class and when it comes to such incidents as this, they are a favored class. After such a DUI crash with death, higher authorities, such as ISP, take their time "investigating," as opposed to making an immediate arrest and letting the chips fall where they may, as they ordinarily do with a civilian. Factor in the issue of the county's prosecutor technically being county officials' legal counsel, which prompts recusal and the seating of a special prosecutor, and that makes for additional delays. In the interim, the public officials gin up support for their "plight," appealing to the citizens to feel sorry for them...and oftentimes, it works.
Whether or not it has in this instance is a subjective matter, depending on which side one adheres to - the one that says public officials can do no wrong, or the one that says they're fallible just like the rest of us and should be treated as such.
Which one Cyle Harner will fall into remains to be seen as well. He's set for a court hearing this Friday, January 4, on the criminal charges, and a review of the civil case on the same day. Judge Todd Lambert of Saline County has been brought in on the criminal case on a conflict with the local judge. Harner remains free on $5,000 cash bond.