Roy Dean Ritcheson
WHITE CO., Ill. - White County deputies had their hands full last week, as the most recent sheriff's department press release indicates.
The action started last Thursday (November 17) when dispatch advised Sheriff Doug Maier that a woman was calling from Windsor Oaks in Grayville about a battery that she said had occurred in Crossville.
Keri Tarrants, 32, said that her boyfriend, Roy Dean Ritcheson, 36, had hit her numerous times while at their residence in Crossville the night before and early that morning. Not only that, but she reported that he'd destroyed her phone, hit her in the face with his fist numerous times, and refused to allow her to leave the residence.
Officers noted that she had visible injuries, including a black eye on the right side, and swollen left eye. She also reported that her face, arms and back were very sore. An ambulance was called for her, and they noted bruise marks on her arm which showed handprints, and a 'rash' type injury on her buttocks. She did not go with the ambulance for further medical attention, however, refusing treatment. She was given contact information for Anna Bixby and advised she needed to contact them for an OP.
A deputy went to look for Ritcheson and located him after having to patiently watch not only his residence, but one across the street, that of Sheena Garret's, where Ritcheson's car was found parked. Garret had allowed the deputy to check her house for Ritcheson (who wasn't found there), but when the deputy left, parked two blocks away, and watched the two houses, he ultimately saw Garret go to Ritcheson's house, then Ritcheson go to Garret's house, where he was talking with her when the deputy pulled up and tole Ritcheson there was a warrant for his arrest as issued out of Hamilton County.
When Ritcheson was questioned about his girlfriend, he advised that he wasn't the aggressor, but instead had been attacked by Tarrant and her injuries, he said, were from him throwing her off of him.
He didn't have any visible injuries. He did, however, admit to destroying the phone.
After the deputies conferred with State's Attorney Denton Aud, Ritcheson was charged with Domestic Battery and Criminal Damage to Property. He's currently in the White County Jail, held on a $750 cash bond on the White County charges, and $575 on the Hamilton County warrant, which is over a failure to appear on a pay or appear from a 2012 Burglary conviction.