Rock Falls man wanted in 2024 Sterling home invasion case arrested on warrant

STERLING – A Rock Falls man wanted on an arrest warrant in connection with a Dec. 8 home invasion in Sterling has been taken into custody and is facing more charges.

Baylee J. Gipson, 25, of Rock Falls, was taken into custody about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday after he was spotted by Sterling police and tried to run, according to a Sterling Police Department news release.

Gipson – wanted on a Whiteside County warrant on charges of felony home invasion causing injury, criminal trespass to property with people present, mob action and battery – was walking in the area of West Ninth Street and Ash Avenue in Sterling when police saw him, according to the release.

Gipson ran from officers and, after a short foot pursuit, was detained and searched, according to the release. Police found a loaded firearm in Gipson’s possession along with about 266 grams of cannabis and multiple other controlled substances, according to the release. He was charged with armed violence, being a felon in possession of a weapon, and two counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of 100 to 500 grams of cannabis, according to court documents.

Police had been searching for Gipson in connection with formal charges filed Dec. 23 in the home invasion case. Sterling police in January asked for the public’s assistance in finding Gipson.

He was denied pretrial release during a detention hearing Wednesday and is being held in the Whiteside County Jail, according to court records. His next court appearance is a preliminary hearing set for 1 p.m. March 10.

The home invasion case

Gipson, Jaysiah A. Segobiano, 24, of Rock Falls, and Okita Lerma, 19, of Sterling, were formally charged in Whiteside County on Dec. 23 with entering a home in the 1000 block of Avenue K in Sterling on Dec. 8 and punching and kicking a woman who lives there.

[ Three charged with Sterling home invasion, beating woman ]

Lerma was taken into custody Jan. 3 and is being held in the Whiteside County Jail. She has pleaded not guilty and is to appear for a pretrial conference March 19. She also is set to appear in court that day for an aggravated battery/great bodily harm charge filed against her Sept. 12, 2023.

Segobiano also was taken into custody Jan. 3. She has been released subject to pretrial release conditions. Her next court appearance is a pretrial conference at 9 a.m. March 19. She also is set to appear in court that day for charges of driving an uninsured vehicle and failure to have a driver’s license filed Dec. 7.

The March 19 pretrial conference also will address charges filed Dec. 13 that accuse Segobiano of unlawful possession of cannabis, being an unlicensed driver, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, improper lane use, transportation of alcohol as the driver and possession of drug paraphernalia.

In an unrelated case, Segobiano was charged Dec. 18 with unlawful possession of cannabis as a driver, driving without a license, operating an uninsured vehicle, improper lane usage and illegal transportation of alcohol. That case was dismissed Jan. 21.

Gipson’s past convictions

Gipson was sentenced to two years in prison in January 2018 after pleading guilty to leaving the scene of an August 2017 accident resulting in personal injury.

Gipson was sent to prison in February 2020 for two years after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in a 2019 case.

Gipson pleaded guilty in July 2021 to criminal trespass and mob action charges stemming from a March 2021 case and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Court documents indicate that Gipson also was sentenced Dec. 1, 2023, to two years in prison after pleading guilty to manufacturing/delivery of 30 to 500 grams of cannabis.

His next court appearance for the December home invasion case and the charges filed Tuesday will be 1 p.m. March 10.