WHITE CO., Ill. - Thieves and other ne'er-do-wells were apparently busy in White County this weekend, as burglary reports overtake the sheriff's department's activity along with a criminal damage report for good measure.
Saturday morning (July 1) at approximately 11:30 a.m., Deputy Randy Graves met with Jake Campbell, 35, of rural Carmi, to receive Campbell's report of guns having been stolen from his residence on the 700 block of East County Road 1435 North.
Campbell advised that he had recently moved to the location and had multiple persons at the residence working on the house. Since there was no evidence of forced entry, Campbell said he believed the suspect may have been working for him.
The firearms were all located in the basement inside the utility room near the electrical box, and Campbell had only just noticed them missing; he was unsure when they could have been taken.
Two pistols and three rifles were taken; also reported missing from the home was an indoor-outdoor home security system.
Also on Saturday, Joseph Buckman, 23, of the 200 block of North Main Cross in Carmi, reported that kayaks had been taken from his grandpa Randy Duvall's place located out of town about a quarter-mile north of Shipley Street at Shipley and Third. Buckman said he ordinarily leaves his two kayaks at the property under a carport on top of a picnic table, and they were there approximately a month ago but are now gone.
The kayaks are 2016 96-inch length sit-on-top and orange in color; one has a white rope, one has a black rope. Serial numbers were reported.
And then on Sunday (July 2), at approximately 7:27 p.m., George Miller of Norris City called the sheriff's department to report Criminal Damage to Property at a location on the 1000 block of County Road 600 East.
Deputy Scott Cantrell responded and viewed tracks through his yard, which appeared to have been made by a side-by-side vehicle.
The tracks went across the county road, where a vehicle had struck a utility pole owned by Wayne-White Electro Co-Op. The pole was partially broken, and Wayne-White was notified.