TWO SUSPECTS IDENTIFIED IN HIGH SPEED CHASE AND ROBBERY
According to the Effingham County Sherriff’s Department, a man and woman are currently in custody in connection to the high speed chase on I-70 and bank robbery which occurred Tuesday afternoon in Altamont. Altonio Graves, age 37 of Florissant, Missouri, and Annalise McGhee, age 26 of St. Louis, were taken to the Effingham County Jail Tuesday evening with charges of alleged armed robbery and alleged aggravated robbery. According to Altamont Police, The People’s Bank and Trust on Main Street in Altamont was robbed at around 2:00 p.m. Tuesday. A suspect reportedly fled the scene on foot with an undisclosed amount of money.
The Bond County Sherriff’s Department received a call at 2:31 p.m. of a high speed chase in progress traveling west bound on I-70. Jim Leitschuh of the Bond County Sherriff’s Department told WGEL Radio that deputies deployed stop sticks to the interstate to stop the fleeing vehicle. In an attempt to avoid the stop sticks, the suspects drove into the median between the interstates, lost control, spun around, and became stuck. No one was hurt during the robbery or the chase and no other cars were struck when the vehicle lost control. According to Effingham County State’s Attorney, Bryan Kibler, both Graves and McGhee are scheduled to appear in court at 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
UNIT 2 SCHOOLS ANNOUNCES HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION DATE
The Unit 2 School Board announced at this month’s board meeting that the High School Graduation date for this year will be May 24 at 7:00 p.m. At the same time, the board approved a couple of leaves of absence and an overnight trip to South Wayne, Wi for the Greenville FFA Officers.
The district received over $1,400,000 in payments for January. Almost $600,000 came in general state aid, $437,000 in Bond County Taxes, and the first of 4 payments for both Special Education and Transportation funds of over $150,000 each. Superintendent Jeff Strieker also told the board that they are looking at a possible decrease in state aid for next year of around $900,000. It was announced that the district will also be receiving an additional $15,000 worth of grant money to use towards the laptop program.
