CROSSVILLE, Ill. - White County Sheriff's authorities investigated a home invasion with battery this weekend that occurred in the village of Crossville.
White County Sheriff's authorities report that on January 2, the dispatch center received a 911 call of a person requesting law enforcement to 304 Second Street in Crossville, where the caller stated he was a victim of being beaten up by two males who entered his residence.
The caller stated the suspects had left the residence, and that he had injuries from the battery as well, so White County Ambulance Service was also dispatched. White County Deputy Sgt. Craig Poole and Sheriff Doug Maier were already responding to a still-active domestic at another location, reports indicate.
The ambulance service reported that one Christopher Beard, 36, needed medical attention for his injuries, and they departed the location with Beard before officers arrived on scene. However, Beard advised authorities that a witness, Veronica Goff, 27, of a residence on the 200 block of Second Street in Crossville, had already left the location on the 300 block where the battery had occurred. Officers advised that that was fine and that Beard should come to the sheriff's office upon release from the hospital to give a statement and fill out a report.
Beard arrived at approximately 4 p.m. and stated that a Donovan Overturf and an unknown male had come into his house in the early morning hours when Beard and his fiancee, Goff, and her three small children, were all present.
Beard said he was in bed and he believed they had pushed their way inside when Goff answered the door.
Beard said that at that point, he'd gotten out of bed, and the two men began punching and kicking him, adding that they had boots on, resulting in a large cut with smaller cuts present around Beard's left eye, with blue and purple swelling.
Beard said that Overturf was a cousin to Goff, but he had no idea why the incident occurred; he stated that he and Goff had had a small argument the night before, but it was only verbal, and everything had been fine since then between the two.
Beard stated that Goff had grabbed the three small children and left the residence as he had been calling the police, since she was afraid the two men might return.
The sheriff's department report indicates that they then attempted to contact Goff, but they were unsuccessful. Poole stated he believed she might not want to meet in person owing to an active arrest warrant she has.
Adding to the intrigue, on Jan. 4, Poole spoke with Overturf at the White County Sheriff's Office. There, Overturf advised Poole that he would like to show where Beard had sent him a message via Facebook friend request, threatening Overturf and using explicit language. Maier obtained an image of the content, but nothing further was indicated as to the outcome in the departmental report.