CARMI, Ill. - It was busy, but not crazy: Carmi police saw plenty of action on both New Years' Eve as well as New Year's Day, despite all the warnings issued by state and local law enforcement toward citizens, warning them to behave or else.
The 'or else' ended up being several trips to the city/county jail, according to the Carmi Police Department report as issued by Chief Jason Carter.
One Carmi guy started early - at 6:29 p.m. Monday, December 31 - with his New Year's Eve adventures.
That'd be James L. Parker, 22, of the 700 block of Shipley Street in Carmi, who, despite his youthful age, is certainly old enough to know better.
Parker's troubles could have been avoided if he hadn't managed to get a warrant for his arrest previously issued on a misdemeanor (the nature of which isn't available on provided documents), then decided to drive while under said warrant in a manner that caught the attention of the arresting officer.
But, he did, and he was toted off to jail on the warrant, which was served and on which he was issued a recog bond and sent on his way..
A short time later (at 7:49 p.m.), one Denzil Daryl Bennett, 77, of Carmi, was taken into custody at his residence on a warrant for failure to appear on a 2015 DUI charge. Bennett, too, was lodged at the county jail; he was apparently able to post bond to secure his release (that or the folks running the inmate roster at the city/county jail haven't updated as yet).
The FTAs continued into the evening, when at 8:15 p.m., officers traveled to a location on the 1200 block of Gilpin Street in town looking for 51-year-old Melinda Rankin. She was wanted on a DUI FTA, and was taken into custody without incident, transported to the city/county jail, and held pending the posting of bond...which she was apparently able to do, as her mug, too, fails to appear on the roster.
The action continued on into 2019 when, on Tuesday, January 1, at 4:45 p.m., a traffic stop at the R Energy location in town netted a young gal with an active arrest warrant out of Wayne County.
That warrant was for - yep - FTA, this on the Wayne County charge of Driving With a Suspended License, and for Alexis Bowles, 20, of Carmi, it came with an additional charge of Driving Without Headlights when Required, which is what got her pulled over in her black 2009 Chevy passenger car.
Bowles was jailed there in Carmi, where she was able to post the requisite $500 cash and was sent on her way to face the courts in both Wayne and White at future dates....hopefully during daytime hours so she won't be troubled with having to turn on her headlights.