Court Call: A roundup of some of this week’s Sauk Valley court cases
Wednesday
MURDER CASE: Byron E. Adams, 54, of Chicago; convicted Oct. 9 of first-degree murder for suffocating Margaret Atherton, 35, on Sept. 11, 2009, in her Dixon home. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison in December.
On the docket: Motion to reconsider his sentence.
BURGLARY CASE: Ethan Seidel, 23; charged with burglary. Police say Seidel and two other men broke into Cash for Gold in Dixon on April 19 and stole a safe.
On the docket: Pretrial conference, during which the judge and attorneys will discuss matters concerning the case and set a trial schedule.
HOME INVASION CASE: David A. Jones, 37, of Dixon; charged with home invasion and criminal trespass to a residence, both felonies, and unlawful use of a weapon and criminal damage to property. Police say Jones went into a Dixon home through an unlocked window on July 28, found an ax and chopped through a door after people inside locked themselves in another room.
On the docket: Pretrial conference.
ROBBERY/BATTERY CASE: Samantha J. Thomas, 19, of Dixon; charged with aggravated robbery, robbery, and aggravated battery. Police say she and three men battered a drug dealer and hit him with a car on Aug. 31.
On the docket: Pretrial conference.
DOMESTIC BATTERY CASE: Moses D. Spears, 27, of Dixon; charged with felony and misdemeanor domestic battery, and misdemeanor interfering with the reporting of domestic violence. Police say Spears hit and choked his girlfriend on March 1, and when she tried to call police, he grabbed the phone away.
On the docket: Pretrial conference.
WHITESIDE county
Wednesday
ATTEMPTED MURDER/DRUG CASE and DRUG CASE: Dontee L. Brown, 31, of Peoria; charged with attempted murder, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, delivery of a controlled substance, and aggravated fleeing. Police say Brown tried to run over an officer who was trying to arrest him and his passenger, Allison V. Dragojevich, 18, also of Peoria, after a cocaine deal in Rock Falls on Aug. 22. She is charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and one count of delivery of a controlled substance.
On the docket: Pretrial conference for both.
RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY CASE: Darnell A. Clark, 25, of Chicago; charged with residential burglary and obstructing justice. Police say Clark tried to break into a house in the Indian Ridge subdivision in Sterling on April 13, 2011.
On the docket: Pretrial conference.
BATTERY TO A CHILD CASE: Marcus J. Dewey, 21, of Franklin Grove; charged with aggravated battery to a child. Police say Dewey severely injured a child younger than 13 on Oct. 16, 2011.
On the docket: Pretrial conference.
THEFT CASE: Bonnie A. Dittmar, 41, of Sterling; charged with theft of more than $100,000 and nine counts of forgery. Police say she took $111,102.99 from Waugh Foods Inc. of East Peoria between March 2006 and May 2009, while she was a food rep for local restaurants.
On the docket: Pretrial conference.
SEX ASSAULT CASE: Richard M. Fonder, 25, of Sterling; charged with criminal sexual assault. A 20-year-old woman told police on Nov. 25 that Fonder assaulted her during a party.
On the docket: Pretrial conference.
IDENTITY THEFT CASE: Magan J. Fuller, 39, of Sterling; charged with aggravated identity theft. Police say Fuller used information from a man older than 60 to get utility services in August 2011.
On the docket: Pretrial conference.
BURGLARY/TRESPASS CASE: Dealon J. Gonzales, 34, of Rock Falls; charged with burglary and criminal trespass to a residence and misdemeanor criminal damage to property and theft of less than $500.
Police say Gonzales kicked his way into a Sterling home on Sept. 16 and stole a cellphone and a debit card.
On the docket: Pretrial conference.
SEX ABUSE CASE: Brent A. Grove, 28, of Sterling; charged with three counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated sexual abuse. Police say Grove sexually abused two children younger than 13 in May and June.
On the docket: Pretrial conference.
ARMED ROBBERY CASE: Joshua E. Messenger, 26, of Rock Falls; charged with armed robbery. Police say Messenger and another man robbed a Sterling gas station May 22, 2011, with a knife.
On the docket: Pretrial conference.
LEAVING THE SCENE CASE: Michael R. Modler, 55, of Sterling; charged with leaving the scene of an accident, a felony, and having no insurance and improper passing on the shoulder.
Police say Modler crashed his motorcycle on West Lincolnway at Anne Street in Galt on March 18 and left before police arrived. His passenger, whom he left at the scene, was seriously injured, police say.
On the docket: Pretrial conference.
RAPE/HOME INVASION CASE: David J. Reese, 27, of Rock Falls; charged with home invasion, armed robbery, and aggravated criminal sexual assault. Police say Reese pushed his way into a Rock Falls woman’s home May 31 and demanded money before raping her.
On the docket: Pretrial conference.
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CASE: Lawrence C. Verdick Jr., 58, of Sterling; charged with 38 counts of aggravated child pornography. A search of his home computer, seized in April, turned up sexually explicit images of children younger than 12, Whiteside County sheriff’s deputies say.
On the docket: Pretrial conference.
SHOOTING CASE: Octavius L. Zackery, 35, of Sterling; charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm, and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, all felonies, and possession of a firearm without a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card. Police say Zackery shot a 29-year-old Sterling man in the hip during an argument on Nov. 17.
On the docket: Pretrial conference.
