In a Facebook post following a previous arrest, Matt Ozment is shown here with one of his fans, identified as Amanda Gail West, who were making light of his presence in the news…a tact that will probably continue until Ozment gets into enough trouble with the law to end up taking showers with large, hairy men.
SALINE CO.— It appears that Saline County will have yet another entry for this year’s Darwin Awards handed out to the most stupid actions performed by a human being.
This issue’s entry comes in the form of a couple of Harrisburg residents, specifically Jennifer M. Quertermous, 32, of 275 Gibbons Rd., Harrisburg and Matthew Ray Ozment, 32, of 218 West Lincoln St., Harrisburg.
Their candidacy came about following a lame attempt to get away from burglary in rural Saline County, this according to police.
According to information filed in the case, dispatch received a call March 18 at approximately 1:26 p.m. in reference to a burglary at 1135 Liberty Road.
The caller and homeowner, Lowell Furlong, told authorities his house had been trashed and that there was a red Ford Explorer stuck in the mud in his back yard.
When police arrived they spotted Ozment near Furlong’s barn trying to get the truck out of the mud with Quertermous firmly ensconced in the passenger’s seat.
Since Ozment and Quertermous didn’t appear to be going anywhere soon, Furlong showed Deputy Wes Bebout, Detective Mike Jones and Deputy Steve Sloan a window in the rear of the house that had been busted out.
When Bebout, Sloan and Jones searched the house to make sure nobody else was still inside ransacking the place, they found that all the drawers and cabinets in the house had been opened and numerous items lying around on the floor.
Once the house was cleared, the officers went out to see how Ozment and Quertermous were getting along with their getaway.
That’s about the time Bebout noticed the Explorer was full of items including dishes, clothing and purses.
Furlong and Melinda Harris identified some of the items as coming from the house.
And that’s about the time Quertermous and Ozment were relieved of their struggle to get away and were taken away to the county detention center where they were both charged with one count each of Burglary and Theft.
While Ms. Quertermous doesn’t appear to have much of a criminal history in Saline County, her cohort in crime Mr. Ozment doesn’t appear to suffer from the stigma of a lack of convictions.
He earned his first felony conviction on March 4, 1999 when he was convicted of, wait for it… Burglary.
His second felony conviction, a little more than a year later, on May 1, 2000, was for Obstruction of Justice for which he was sentenced to four years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC).
On August 11, 2005 Matthew earned himself another three-year sentence in IDOC after a conviction for Aggravated DUI 3rd+ and a four-year sentence after a conviction in a separate case for Retail Theft, to run concurrently.
He still owes $2,010 in fines and fees from both those cases.
Quertermous and Ozment appear to have the requisite employment status for such a heist—that of “un,” as in, unemployed.
Their breeding skills seem to be intact: Ms. Quertermous listed herself as a divorced mother of three and Mr. Ozment an unmarried father of one. It’s unclear whether any of the progeny are mutual.
Cash bond was set in both their cases at $2,000 each.