Ottawa Teen Wanted After Woman Seriously Injured

If you were following the story of the woman found seriously injured in Ottawa, police have issued a warrant for an 18 year old man.

Nathan Hawk of Ottawa is wanted on three counts of aggravated battery.  The charges were issued Friday afternoon by the La Salle County State’s Attorney’s office.

The investigation began early Friday morning after police received a 911 call from a home on Watson Avenue.  Police say several officers need to subdue Hawk because he was being combative.

An injured 50 year old woman was found in another room. Both were taken to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, the woman was later taken to St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria.

Hawks bond was set at $1 million.

Aggravated battery charge for man was convicted of involuntary manslaughter

A La Salle man who already did prison time for his role in a fatal bar fight is in trouble again for scuffling at a local bar.

Bryan Tomaseski was taken into the La Salle County Jail earlier this week on a charge of aggravated battery.  He’s of accused injuring a man during a December fight at Jake’s Pour House in La Salle.  The alleged victim had minor injuries.

Tomaseski was given three years in prison in 2008 after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter.  He fatally punched Andrew Sibley outside of Two Fools in La Salle in 2007.

For his latest problem, Tomaseski posted $5,000 bond and is out of custody.

Parolee arrested in Peru

           If you noticed police officers looking around the railroad tracks by Pine Street in Peru Thursday night, it’s because they were looking for a man on parole for attempted armed robbery.

          Melvin Townsel of La Salle was arrested for obstruction and parole violation warrant last night. 

          Officers began looking for Townsel after a La Salle cop made contact with him yesterday near Pine Street in Peru.  Police say he ran off and they couldn’t find him.  Officers from La Salle and Peru and the U. S. Marshall’s Service would later return and find him at a home on Bluff Street.

          Townsel was taken to the La Salle County Jail.

Boobapalooza Keeps Up Fight Against Cancer

The popular Boobapalooza is back again to raise money against breast cancer, or as organizer Betty Glynn calls it, “the dread”.

The fourth annual fundraiser happens next Saturday from 4p until 1a at Celebrations 150 in La Salle.  Five different bands will perform and there’s also plenty of food, drinks, and raffles to raise money.

Glynn is a two-time breast cancer survivor.  She says by teaming with Cops 4 Cancer all money raised at Boobapalooza stays in the Illinois Valley.  They handed out over 100 thousand dollars to families dealing with cancer.

Tickets are available now at Rudy’s Liquors in La Salle.  They’re ten dollars in advance or 15 dollars at the door.

Big Name In Local Funeral Business Dies

A man that’s been there for thousands of grieving area families has died.  Funeral Director Charles Mueller former president of the Mueller Funeral Homes died yesterday morning at the age of 88.

Before becoming a funeral director, Mueller was in the U.S. Army Air Corps and according to his family, he flew B-24’s and B-25’s during World War II and B-29’s in the Korean Conflict.

Mueller would go on to create the Mueller Funeral Homes in Peru, Ottawa and Lostant and become a partner of the Mueller-Pagani Funeral Home in LaSalle and the Prey-Mueller Funeral Home in Oglesby.

He was also involved in many organizations including the Knights of Columbus, the Peru American Legion, and the Peru Rotary Club.

You’ll hear Mueller’s obituary during AM 1220 WLPO’s In Memoriam.

Marseilles Man Headed To Prison For Murder

ST. CHARLES, Ill. (AP) – A La Salle County man will serve 20 years in prison in exchange for pleading guilty to his role in a 2008 slaying in Aurora.

32-year-old Raul Saucedo-Cervantes of Marseilles was sentenced yesterday after pleading guilty to one count of first-degree murder in the October 2008 slaying of 28-year-old Hector Valtierrez of Chicago. Prosecutors say Saucedo-Cervantes and another man arrived at a home in Aurora to sell cocaine. Valtierrez and two others arrived later to buy it.

Prosecutors say both sides began shooting at each other after Valtierrez and his associates tried to steal the cocaine at gunpoint. Valtierrez died at the scene.

Saucedo-Cervantes was not the shooter, but officers say he was prosecuted because he and the shooter acted together.