Ammonia theft triggers 15-mile Illinois chase

Jonesboro, Ill.-Two suspected anhydrous ammonia thieves are in Union County jail waiting a trial date on felony theft charges after leading deputies on a 15-mile chase over two counties with two tanks and about 35 gallons of ammonia in the back of their pickup truck. Union County Sheriff David Livesay told Green Markets the pair was tripped up early on Nov. 8 at Fruitbelt Farm Services in Ware by an alert passerby who notified the sheriff’s office. “That individual noticed the truck sitting by the tank area at Fruitbelt and it looked pretty suspicious to him,” Livesay related. “There was a deputy in the area who was alerted by dispatch. He actually got there as the vehicle was leaving the property and tried to stop them, but they wouldn’t stop.” The pursuit, which was joined by two additional deputies, crossed county lines. The two suspects next tried to cross over a levee system along the Mississippi River. The truck hit the system, which was flooded due to high water, at high speed, and “They willingly gave up at that time,” the sheriff reported. “Drug investigators took charge at the scene and a Hazmat team came to transfer the anhydrous into a stable tank which is being held for evidence.”