North Pekin, Ill.-Theft of no more than a gallon of anhydrous ammonia from the local farm input store early on Nov. 30 led to a bizarre chase by officers from four jurisdictions that included a swim by one of the suspects across the Illinois River, and the arrest of both of them on a multitude of charges. Bob Cupi, owner of Cupi’s Ag Center, told Green Markets that it all began with a car parked two blocks from his business shortly after midnight, which prompted a resident to notify the police. Cupi said the officers let the two thieves haul away their loot in the car and followed them to the edge of the river, where the two seemed to drive intentionally off a boat ramp and into the water. One of them was ordered out of the water by police and taken into custody. The other swam out of sight and ended up at gas station on the other side, where a motorist drove him to a fast-food restaurant. According to the local press, authorities, joined by boats and an airplane, spent more than 12 hours searching the Illinois River near where he went in and was last seen swimming south in the current. It all came to a halt when the motorist who gave the swimmer a ride learned of the chase on TV and called the sheriff’s office. “The motorist said he was flagged down while putting gas in his vehicle,” Sheriff Bob Huston said. “He matched our description, and he was soaking wet with no shoes. That’s what we call a clue.” The water-logged suspect was later arrested in the attic of a home in the Peoria area, where he was found hiding in a large pile of clothes. He resisted arrest and was tasered. Cupi said these arrests bring to “about five the number of bunches that have been caught in the last 2-1/2 years.” He said he was never surprised to discover a hose near one of his tanks. “In fact,” he recalled, “I had six hoses lying there all at one time.”
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