ATTEMPTED ARMED ROBBERY AT POCAHONTAS BANK
As of Tuesday morning the Bond County Sheriff's department is still looking for a suspect in Monday's attempted armed bank robbery in Pocahontas. The attempted robbery took place about 2:30 PM Monday at the First Mid-Illinois Bank and Trust in downtown Pocahontas. The suspect vehicle is a red colored Jeep Cherokee with a gray bottom, new style, possible a 2002 to 2005 model. It was last seen westbound on Rt. 40 from Pocahontas. The suspect is a white male, under six feet tall with a larger build, reddish or blond hair, clean shaven and clean cut hair. A tattoo of a word was seen on the left side of his neck, maybe the word "GREENVILLE" or something similar. He was wearing a brown Carhartt coat, blue jeans, and black ski mask. A black colored handgun was displayed during the incident, however witnesses are unsure if the gun was real.
Greenville Police report no money was taken in the holdup. If you have any information please contact the Sheriffs department at 618-664-2151.
Shortly after Monday's attempted holdup Sheriff's deputies, with back up from Greenville Police, stopped a vehicle that matched the get-a-way vehicle description in Smithboro. However that turned out not to be the suspect.
CHILI SUPPER AND SILENT AUCTION: BOTH A SUCCESS
The 19th Annual Boy Scout Troop 57 Chili Supper was held last week. During the supper, a silent auction was held for the Race to a Cure, benefiting Dave Walker, who is battling cancer. Bill Johnson said it was a wonderful evening, and commented on the success of the chili supper. There were between 750-800 people served. The scouts also provided a venue for the silent auction for Dave Walker, who used to be one of their scout leaders.
Sally Bolen helped to organize the silent auction that raised around $4,000. She said they were grateful to everyone who donated items. Bolen also commented that they really appreciated the boy scouts allowing them to hold the silent auction for Walker during the Chili Supper. The Chili Supper and the silent auction were held at the Greenville Presbyterian Church.
FIRE DEPARTMENTS STAY BUSY OVER THE WEEKEND
There were several fires reported throughout Bond County Friday. Mulberry Grove Fire Protection District was paged to a grass fire around 2:30PM in rural Mulberry Grove, just inside Fayette County. Keyesport Fire was requested for mutual aid and arrived with a tanker and brush truck. Firefighters were on scene for little over an hour.
At 4:15PM Friday, Keyesport Fire Protection District was also called to a grass fire at 1555 Tamalco Road. Greenville Fire was paged for mutual aid and responded with a brush truck and tanker. All units were back in service 40 minutes later.
A report of a dumpster fire at 210 Second Street in Greenville, was called in to police around 9PM Friday night. Greenville Fire was paged and officers from the police department arrived on scene to find the trash burning in a barrel and under control. The fire page was then canceled.
Greenville Firemen received 2 calls Saturday. The first came at about 2:30 PM to a brush fire on 18th Avenue. Firemen were on the scene of the fire for most of two hours returning to service at 4:25. Firemen were also called at 3:20 PM to provide mutual aid at another brush fire, this time on Jaketown Road. Firemen worked for about an hour and a half to help extinguish this fire.
On Sunday, the Greenville Fire Protection District responded to a report of a grass fire around 7:45PM at the corner of 3rd and North Streets. Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire and were back in service 20 minutes later.
911 BOARD DISCUSSES ADDRESS SIGNS
The Emergency Telephone Systems Board met Thursday at 9am. The first check was received for the Vonage Voice Over IP. Late last year, Vonage had agreed to place a $1.25 surcharge per month on its voice over internet phone customers. Bond County’s 911 system will receive the surcharge from local residents who have Vonage VOIP. State law only requires 911 surcharges on landline and cellular phones.
Alan Davis, 911 Coordinator, commented that the board discussed at length the possibility of getting address signs that stand vertical and show the metal reflective house number. More will be discussed at a future meeting whether or not to purchase the signs and hand them out, or have residents purchase each sign themselves. The treasury report was also approved and bills were paid. The next 911 Board meeting is Thursday, April 12th.
