Streator woman charged in Wednesday gunfire at her neighbor released

A Streator woman was released from La Salle County Jail, with conditions, after being charged Thursday with repeatedly firing a pistol in the 100 block of East Sumner Street. There were no injuries.

Belinda L. Foreman, 61, appeared in La Salle County Circuit Court and charged with reckless discharge of a firearm, a Class 4 felony carrying one to three years in prison. The sentencing options include probation and/or jail time.

According to court records, Foreman’s husband was engaged in a dispute around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday when she emerged from her home with a pistol and “fired a round in [the] direction” of her neighbor.

“[Foreman] stated that her neighbor was harassing her husband,” prosecutors said in a companion filing. “[She] stated that she retrieved her handgun, went outside and said, ‘This [expletive] needs to stop,’ and then fired her gun in the air.

“[Foreman] stated that she fired her gun into the air until the gun was empty.”

Prosecutors further noted investigators retrieved multiple shell casings along with a .9-mm handgun.

Initially, Streator Police reported on its Facebook page that Foreman told an officer “she was tired of the Mexicans,” but that was edited out of their statement.

Foreman’s release includes a condition she have no contact with the neighbor. She will next appear April 17 for arraignment.