Herbert Niehaus
WHITE CO., Ill. - There seems to have been a theme going on in White County this weekend if the arrests are any indication.
Another domestic battery was reported on Sunday (September 18), this one at 9:37 p.m. White County, although it seems like another arguable case of he said/she said.
One Tennille Neal was the kind person who called in for the alleged victim, Dawn Williard, 39, of a rural Crossville address. Neal said Williard was at Neal’s residence, having been battered by Herbert Niehaus, 41, of the same rural Crossville address. While both Williard and Niehaus had been at Neal’s place earlier that evening, they’d apparently left, and then Williard had called Neal to tell her that Niehaus had punched her (Williard) in the face. Willard advised Neal that she was headed out to Neal’s place on foot, so Neal went to pick her up. When Neal saw Williard had a black eye and red marks on her neck, that’s when she decided to call dispatch.
A county deputy spoke with Williard, who said that when they were at Neal’s house, Niehaus became jealous of another person and made her leave because she was “being too flirtatious with the other guy.”
They went back to their house, then after they got in they started to argue, and Niehaus grabbed her around the neck with his hand, then punched her in the face.
In particular, Williard was worried about Niehaus’ 4-year-old son who remained at the residence where Niehaus was still very intoxicated. The deputy noted that Williard was intoxicated as well, so she wasn’t asked to write a statement. Instead, EMTs were called to evaluate her condition, including the marks on her. She refused treatment.
Calling an ISP trooper to assist, White County deputy Scott Cantrell traveled to see Niehaus, who told them he’d “had about 12 beers” while at Neal’s. He said he had to work the next day so he left Williard there and went home, adding that she had been drinking whiskey and was “very intoxicated.”
On account of this, he said, when she got back to the house she began arguing with him, to which he responded by telling her to leave.
However, he was the one who went outside to get the keys out of the van, and when he did this, he said, she hit him in the nose with her fist. He told her again to leave, then went in and put his boy to bed. At least he was worried about the kid; since Williard wasn’t there and wouldn’t be, he didn’t know what to do because she was the one who babysat the little boy while Niehaus went to work.
The answer to that, after Niehaus was told he was under arrest for Domestic Battery, was to call his aunt and have her come over and stay with the boy.
Nihau’s was transported to jail, and Cantrell happened to note in his report that Niehaus was cooperative throughout the process.