CARRIER MILLS, Ill. - A chase out of Carrier Mills and into Williamson County reaching speeds at over 100 miles per hour yesterday afternoon ended with a collision and the arrest of a man wanted on multiple warrants in Saline County.
Authorities said the chase began at approximately 4:21 p.m. yesterday afternoon (Sunday, June 11) from the location of a residence in the 800 block of North Main Street in Carrier Mills, when a Ford Explorer being driven by Andrew Derrell Johnson, 31, was spotted by a Mills police officer, who knew Johnson to be wanted on warrants out of Saline County for Unlawful Possession of Weapons by a Felon, Aggravated Battery and Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault...and that Johnson was driving on a license that had expired in 2004.
Mills police notified Saline County that the chase was reaching speeds of 100 to 105 mph as Johnson - who was noted talking on the cell phone while driving so fast - sped toward Williamson County. Both Williamson as well as Illinois State Police in DuQuoin were notified of the dangerous situation and were ultimately able to join the officer after the chase ended in Williamson, in a soybean field just off Saraville Road. The chase ended with a collision between the Carrier Mills squad and Johnson's vehicle as Johnson tried to get out of the field.
To add to his ever-increasing number of legal problems, when Johnson was searched subsequent to the collision, authorities found a baggie containing suspected weed, which Johnson admitted was his and was for his personal use.
We're going to have a complete account of the whole thing, along with the three initial charges that drew the officer's attention to Johnson, in the upcoming issue (June-July 2017). If you're a subscriber to the print edition and you have an orange highlight across the bottom of your most recent label, you need to get your renews in before next Tuesday, June 20, otherwise you won't get this next issue; click this link to see how you can do that at the convenient PayPal link or how to send in a check or money order (scroll down to the bottom paragraph for the link). But if you miss this one, you can always hit it online at the e-Edition; click this link to get started on that with an online membership!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hit our Facebook page (yes we still have one), and this post on it if you'd like to discuss this subject on Facebook; and be sure you check your "get notifications" selection under the 'like' button on our page; recent Facebook upgrades have booted many of our followers off from getting our posts. Also check us on Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and Tumblr!…and if you like what you’re reading here, why not subscribe? You can get the print version as well as the e-Edition (the electronic version of the print version, where we put the in-depth articles as well as the serious crime and corruption rundown for the previous weeks; more than local papers provide) at this link…get clicking and get on board so YOU can be informed!