Three arrested during South Ash Street incident

By Luke Nozicka

Three people, two of whom are SIU students, were arrested after police broke up an Unofficial Halloween house party about 12 a.m. Sunday when 200 people met on the lawn of 408 S. Ash Street where a car was flipped by partiers.

Zachary Justus, 19, a freshman studying marketing, was arrested for disorderly conduct and was released, according to the Carbondale Police Department’s news release Monday. Corey Albrecht, 18, a freshman studying engineering, was arrested for underage possession or consumption of alcohol, aggravated assault and reckless conduct, according to the release. Albrecht was released after posting bond.

Both Justus and Albrecht have been emailed for comment.

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While witnesses say an SIU student and a woman were pepper sprayed during the incident, the department’s press release said no pepper spray was used by CPD officers.

“There was no use of force used by the Carbondale Police,” Sgt. Corey Kemp wrote in an email when asked if the department used other forms of irritant.

The Illinois State Police, SIU Department of Public Safety and the Jackson County Sherriff’s Office assisted CPD, according to the release.

Dylan Coler, a freshman from McHenry studying mechanical engineering, said he was maced.

Chris Wiley, a freshman visiting from Northern Illinois University, said he spoke with a woman who said she was pepper sprayed.

“There’s this girl who’s just crying. We’re like, ‘What’s wrong? Are you okay?’ She’s saying how she’s been pepper sprayed in the face,” he said. “She was pepper sprayed in the face over nothing. This girl was no anarchist.”

Members of the crowd threw rocks, bottles and full beer cans in the direction of officers, and a bottle, according to CPD’s press release, struck one officer. The news release says the officer was not injured.

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Clinton Farr, a 19-year-old freshman visiting from Lindenwood University in Belleville, said people were throwing beer bottles at officers after a vehicle was flipped on the street.

“During the retrieval process, the vehicle inadvertently became disengaged from the tow truck cable and damaged a second, parked vehicle, which prolonged the removal process and extended the overall time this incident took to resolve,” according to CPD’s release Monday.

Gerald Welch, 30, of Chicago, was arrested for criminal damage to state supported property and was sent to the Jackson County Jail, according to the releas. None of the individuals who overturned the vehicle had been identified by about 4 p.m. Monday when CPD’s release was posted online.

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