La Salle County Court

Police seized more than 200 grams of cocaine, multiple firearms and stolen goods worth more than $50,000. A trio of men are accused of overseeing the year-long criminal enterprise.

Four Streator men were charged Tuesday with the seldom-filed felony of criminal drug conspiracy. Streator police said other suspects in a drug and theft ring would be charged, as well.

The last charged suspect in the armed Ottawa home invasion, during which shots were fired, has pleaded guilty to a felony.

An Ottawa man serving 18 years for sexually assaulting a child struck out with an appeals court Thursday.

A judge was thinking about giving Nicholas Huber more of a shot at pre-trial release. A call from La Salle County Jail may have changed the judge’s mind.

A Streator man is charged with jumping out of a moving squad car and running from police. He had to be tased and was charged with having drugs on him.

The police searched the truck Sunday and found binoculars and bolt cutters in the cab. The trailer they were hauling was stolen. Both driver and passenger had been previously granted pre-trial release.

One of the suspects in a burglary-theft spree is back in custody.

Shots heard Sunday morning at Everett and Main streets in Streator were from a botched robbery. The man charged with firing those shots will be held in La Salle County Jail.

La Salle police and drug agents apprehended a suspect in a July shooting near a La Salle bar. Leeonta Patton will remain in custody while awaiting trial.

For the second time in less than a week, a Class X felony suspect is back in La Salle County Jail after authorities said he violated his pre-trial release.

A La Salle man charged with the sexual assault of a 10-year-old was ordered detained Monday after being charged with cutting off his ankle bracelet and trying to flee.

A La Salle County grand jury convened and returned the following indictments.

The man accused of pulling the trigger in the 2023 shooting death of an Ottawa man has completed a mental health evaluation and will stand trial for murder Jan. 13.

A man and a woman were arrested on residential burglary charges Thursday after being confronted and a warning shot fired, the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.

A La Salle man accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old was granted home confinement on Tuesday. Three days later, he was charged with cutting off his ankle bracelet and trying to flee.

A Marseilles man accused of killing his father on Father’s Day weekend will stand trial for murder Feb. 24.

A California man charged with hauling 2 tons of purported cannabis (his lawyer argues it was hemp) will stand trial Jan. 27.

A teen was put on probation Tuesday for bringing a gun into Ottawa High School. Wednesday, he was back in the La Salle County Detention Home for allegedly possessing a stolen car.

A teen charged after a gun was seized at Ottawa High School pleaded guilty Tuesday to two felonies. He was released from custody and placed on 18 months probation.

A La Salle man accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old was released Tuesday into home confinement.

An Ottawa man charged following a Sunday morning fight was released from La Salle County Jail on Monday with conditions – and with significantly reduced charges.

Ottawa police are investigating an overnight residential break-in that resulted in a weapon charge, but police say no firearm was brandished.

A La Salle County grand jury convened Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, and returned the following indictments.

A woman who narrowly avoided prison for a 2021 high-speed chase – an Earlville police officer was injured in the pursuit – admitted Friday to violating her probation. Jaquaya Roy could go to prison this time.

A Decatur man turned himself in Tuesday night for his alleged role in a non-fatal stabbing in La Salle.

A Sheffield man facing up to 10 years for allegedly threatening an Ottawa shooting was released from custody Tuesday and into home confinement.

A teen was sentenced to state-run youth lockup for firing a gunshot June 19 in Ottawa. There were no injuries.

Two Spring Valley men were granted pre-trial release Monday after being charged in connection with a non-fatal stabbing in La Salle.

A Sheffield man faces up to 10 years in prison for allegedly threatening a shooting at a government office in Ottawa.

La Salle County prosecutors wanted Cesar D. Jimenez-Preciado detained for allegedly hauling 2 tons of purported cannabis. Then, prosecutors disclosed Thursday he was nabbed last month in Effingham County with another 4 tons. A La Salle County judge has decided not to detain him.

A second intruder in a Nov. 2 home invasion in Ottawa pleaded guilty Thursday and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Police seized found 85 trash bags of marijuana – average weight: 50 pounds – during a Tuesday traffic stop near Peru. In La Salle County, 2-ton seizures are pretty rare.

A Streator man charged with shooting three people, killing one, will stand trial Jan. 21.

A former Ottawa High School teacher was sentenced recently to three years in federal prison for the possession and transfer of sexual abuse images.

A Marseilles man was sentenced Friday to 14 years in prison for the sexual abuse of a child and for taking sexually explicit images of two victims.

A Lansing man was sentenced to 8 years in prison for possessing a pistol, seized at an Oglesby motel, that had been modified into an automatic weapon.

A La Salle County jury deliberated a half hour Wednesday and convicted Fernando Martinez of home invasion, a Class X felony. He faces an elevated sentencing range of 26 to 50 years.

Fernando Martinez is banking on the fact Ottawa police have no DNA, fingerprints or blood linking him to an armed Ottawa home invasion. But prosecutors opened his trial Tuesday spotlighting that Martinez sustained a gunshot and couldn't say convincingly how he got it.

The investigation isn’t finished yet and the one man in custody said it wasn’t him who fired two rounds into a Streator home. The suspect, however, is being held.

A Palos Heights man allegedly carjacked a Ford F350 on Friday night and then struggled with three police officers near Marseilles, allegedly striking each of them. He was granted pre-trial release on Monday.

While investigating a home invasion, Ottawa police found Fernando Martinez being treated for a gunshot. Martinez wouldn’t talk. Nevertheless, a jury will hear what he allegedly told other players in the break-in.

Last fall, police intercepted a package containing more than 2 pounds of cocaine. Now, the recipient is headed to prison for 15 years.

One of two teens facing charges after a firearm was found in a locker at Ottawa High School on Tuesday afternoon was ordered held Wednesday in the La Salle County Detention Home.

A homeless man wanted for allegedly wielding a knife in La Salle was apprehended Tuesday and ordered jailed Wednesday.

Two people Streator police have referred to as “Bonnie & Clyde” are both in jail. Ashley Moats was ordered detained Tuesday.

A Hennepin man pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor Thursday for pulling a gun during a 2021 argument at the Peru YMCA.

A Streator man accused of threatening La Salle County judges and lawyers pleaded guilty Thursday and was sentenced to three years in prison.

A Marseilles man could stand trial later this year for allegedly killing his father, but already the window is closing on a jury trial in 2024.

Two people referred to as “Bonnie and Clyde” by Streator police in social media posts were indicted Tuesday on additional felonies.