CROSSVILLE, Ill. - Two young guys who apparently don't value their driving privileges as much as they'd like people to think were arrested last night in the White County village of Crossville in what's being described as a potential "drag racing" incident that lead to a three-wheeler-without-license incident.
Apparently 20-somethings think that's an okay thing to do on the streets of the quiet village late at night...but fortunately, White County deputies don't, and while a crash was barely averted, at least maybe these two will get the message upon very expensive citations or charges.
This went down right at 11 p.m. last night (Friday, April 12) when a county deputy reported that he was northbound on Cross Street at Route 1 approaching Main Street at Route 14 (basically, the middle of Crossville). The deputy noted that he was behind a silver Jeep Cherokee which he knew to belong to Zachary Cotton, 22, of North Goodman Street in Crossville. The taillights on the Jeep weren't functioning, so the deputy determined to perform a traffic stop on it. However, as he was preparing to do this, he viewed a pickup truck blow through the stop sign at the 4-way on Route 14/Route 1, headed westbound.
So the deputy allowed Cotton to turn west on Main, then activated the emergency lights on the squad and started to go around Cotton on the left. It was at this point that Cotton accelerated and started drifting toward the squad, as the squad was still to the left of the Jeep.
Cotton pushed the squad to the left, causing the deputy to nearly strike the curb with the squad.
He was able to get by Cotton just past the post office, traveling at an estimated speed of 50 mph. At this point the deputy caught up to the truck and performed a traffic stop, issuing a citation for disobeying a traffic control device. The deputy then drove to the Goodman Street address where Cotton lives.
When the deputy exited the squad and approached the front yard, he found several individuals standing around, Cotton being among them; so the deputy called him over and asked Cotton why he wouldn't let the deputy around him when he had the emergency lights activated. The deputy also mentioned that Cotton had nearly run the squad into a curb.
Cotton at first denied the actions, but later admitted that he thought the deputy was his "friend and was wanting to drag race."
That nonsense could be explained by the next notation the deputy made of the situation: He could smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage on Cotton's breath, so he asked Cotton for his license and proof of insurance. Cotton could provide the former but not the latter. While a second deputy arrived to assist (and placed another individual under arrest; more on that in a bit), the deputy dealing with Cotton ran the young man through the battery of field sobriety tests, most of which Cotton failed. He was placed under arrest after he blew over the legal limit on the portable breath analyzer. While at the jail, Cotton was subjected to the state certified breathalyzer after a 20-minute observation period, but he still blew .103, so he was issued a citation for DUI and a tow sheet for Don's Bumper-to-Bumper, as that's where his taillight-less Jeep was.
The second arrest came when the second deputy pulled up while Cotton was being questioned. The first deputy had heard a three-wheeler heading south of Goodman Street toward the location where the group of guys were standing. The deputy viewed a male, later identified as Chance Grein, 21 of McLeansboro, pull up into the yard at the Goodman Street location and shut off the three-wheeler.
Grein was asked by the deputy to come over, and Grein complied. When Grein was asked about his license, he advised the deputy that "the state" has it. Sure enough, when his info was run through dispatch, it came back that his license was revoked.
More backup was requested and arrived to assist. The second deputy (George Spencer) placed Grein under arrest and transported him to the county jail, with the three-wheeler also being towed from the scene by Don's.
Grein was issued a citation for Driving on a Revoked License and handed a copy of his tow sheet; with the little party broken up, apparently some quiet finally came to Crossville.