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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Joshua Sheley Has 6 Hour Standoff With Police- Updated x 3

Third Update 7/22- attorney change and another continuance at bottom
Second Update 7/17- preliminary hearing details, below 1st update at bottom.
Updated 7/10 - Joshua Sheley appeared in court on 7/07, details at bottom.

Whiteside County Emergency Response Team members escort Joshua J. Sheley, 32, into a police car at 7:15 p.m. (David Rauch/drauch@svnmail.com)
It has been brought to my attention that Joshua Sheley has been arrested again in Whiteside County, IL.

Joshua Sheley 32, of Sterling, IL was arrested on some outstanding warrants that were issued in Whiteside County on May 21, 2010. I'll get into more about the warrants and the current charges pending against Sheley in a minute.

First, I want to discuss how he and another man, Matthew Simmons, 25 were both apprehended at about 7:15 pm on Monday, July 5, while LE was searching for an attempted robbery suspect. Simmons was arrested on an outstanding Whiteside County warrant for probation violation. 

At about 12:25 pm on Monday, July 5 an attempted robbery at a local Citgo station was reported to the  Sterling police. The QC Times reports that a canine unit used during the search led police to Sheley's home at 905 2nd Ave, Sterling. Shortly after 12:30 pm on the 5th, Sterling police began knocking at the door of Josh Sheley's home, looking for him and one other possible suspect.Police say they talked with a woman with two children. She told officers no one was home, but officers could still hear someone inside. Police then obtained a search warrant and brought in the SWAT team as backup, unaware if the suspects had a gun.

Witnesses tell WQAD News 8 the police with high powered riffles surrounded the area for a block and a half. For the next four hours, police tried to communicate with Sheley and Simmons without any change. Officer eventually shot 20 to 30 rounds of tear gas through windows. Finally around 7:30pm Monday night, the SWAT team entered the house and found both men hiding huddled in a closet. Sheley and Simmons were arrested about seven hours after police first knocked on the door.

The investigation into the attempted armed robbery at the Citgo station continues. Authorities said at this point Josh Sheley does not fit the description of the suspect. So far there is no official word if Simmons fits the description; however, I did see a comment by someone who used the hat-name ignorrance and identified herself as Simmon's sister over on Topix . Part of her comment said, "matthew doesnt fit the description of the attempted robber at citgo, he is BLACK obviously the man was white or they wouldnt have even considered josh a suspect so matthew is totally out of that now when it comes to probation violation okay ignorrance on his part." (c&p as written)

I saw a news clip of the security video of the attempted robbery and the subject appeared completely covered to me, even his face. Identification will likely depend more on height, weight, and clothing....maybe voice. Even if neither man ends up charged for the robbery, it isn't clear whether there will be any charges related to the stand-off.

For those of you not familiar with Joshua Sheley, he is the older brother of Nicholas Sheley, 30,  who is charged with the deaths of 8 people  in connection with a week-long killing spree in June 2008. Katfish ...ponders has reported extensively on the murder and assault cases involving Sheley in Knox County.
Click here to see previous Nicholas Sheley related entries ( newest to oldest dating back to August 2008 ).
Nicholas S. is serving a seven-year sentence in the Pontiac State prison  for an assault he was convicted of committing against the staff of the Knox County Jail, where he was being held following his arrest in July 2008. Nicholas Sheley is expected to stand trial in Knox County sometime between February and May of 2011 for the murder of Ronald Randall,65, Galesburg, IL. If convicted he may face the death penalty.

Josh Sheley was charged with concealment of a homicide and obstruction of justice in connection with the first of the murders his brother Nicholas is charged with committing, that of Russell Reed, 93, of rural Sterling. Two other people were also charged for concealing Reed's death, the charges were dropped for one person and the other, Eric A. Smith, 30, of Rock Falls, was sentenced to 6 years in prison for hiding a gun and ammunition police say was stolen by his cousin, Nicholas Sheley, in late June 2008. Smith, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a felon in December 2009 and for testifying against his cousin, Joshua Sheley, a couple charges were dropped.

Josh Sheley spent from July 2008 until December 2009 awaiting trial in Whiteside County jail, before he was acquitted on both charges of assisting his brother Nick to cover up Russell Reed's murder by Whiteside County Circuit Judge John Hauptman, after a three-day bench trial

Hauptman stated in his controversial ruling that prosecutors proved that Joshua Sheley’s brother, Nicholas Sheley, played at least some part in the June 2008 killing of 93-year-old Reed. They also proved Joshua Sheley likely had knowledge of it, he said. But the judge said the state had not proved that Joshua Sheley took any action to cover up the crime. As frustrating as that verdict was for so many, if Joshua Sheley did indeed take action to cover-up Reed's murder, he can't be tried on those charges again, so it's left up to Karma and God to deal with him for that now. Of course, if Josh Sheley didn't take action to help his brother Nick, he shouldn't be crucified for his brother's sins either. Having said that, it appears that Joshua, like his brother, has temper and impulse control issues that can cause a lot of trouble; so it's not surprising that he has landed in jail again.

When the Sheley brothers  were arrested in July 2008, Joshua Sheley had only been out of prison for a couple months. He has managed to stay out of jail the last six months , but that doesn't mean he hasn't been (allegedly) misbehaving. The outstanding warrants he was just arrested on are 2 counts of aggravated fleeing or eluding a police officer. They are both class 3 felonies. I think the bond is $100,000.....so he needs $10,000 to bail out.
On March 19 this year Josh Sheley was ticketed for transportation or possession of alcoholic liquor in a motor vehicle. He pled guilty and was fined on April 29, 2010.  Evidently police saw Sheley driving on May 20 with a revoked drivers license, when they attempted to stop him he fled. The warrants were issued the next day, but it seems he wasn't caught until July 6 after the 6+ hour stand off. I have seen it reported in the media that the $100,000 warrant was for failure to appear for a felony, but the Whiteside County website shows the warrant being 2 counts of aggravated fleeing. ????. I  will try to find out more of the specifics.
If convicted as charged a class 3 felony is punishable by Up to a $25,000 Fine and/or 2 to 5 Years in prison for each count. My guess is some of this could end up reduced, but we still don't know if there will be charges for the stand off or attempted robbery. I wouldn't rule out either one just yet.

Sterling police are asking that anyone with information about the attempted robbery contact the Sterling Police Department at 815-632-6640 or Whiteside County Crimestoppers at 815-625-7867.

Update- 7/10

07/07/2010
Defendant in court. Advised of rights & bond. Public Defender appointed. Preliminary hearing scheduled for 7/15/10 at 1 p.m. CMP
07/08/2010
Appearance by Public Defender filed. Speedy Trial Demand filed.

2nd Update- 7/17
07/15/2010- Preliminary hearing- Judge Michael R. Albert

Defendant in custody assigned Public Defender (PD) Fagerman. People represented by Assistant States Attorney (ASA) Brozovich.
On Defendants motion, without objection by the state, case continued for preliminary hearing 7/22/10 at 1:00 p.m.before Judge Stanley B. Steines
3rd Update- 7/22
07/21/2010  Appearance, Consent and Substitution of Attorney filed by Attorney Jan Buttron. Statement in Support of Rule 18 fees filed. Motion to Continue filed. Notice of Filing filed.
07/22/2010  Defendant in custody appeared with Attorney Jan Buttron. People represented by ASA Costello. On Defendant's motion, preliminary (again) continued to 8/19/10 at 1 p.m.
before Judge Michael R.Albert

 Quad City Times

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8 comments:

  1. Wow! These guys just can't stop bringing trouble to themselves!

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  2. I agree LCM! These aren't children. The sad part is there were children in that home. I have a feeling this home is not a good environment for kids. So many kids are exposed to unnecessary risk because of the decisions of the "adults" in their lives. I haven't heard if the woman took the kids and left the house before the stand off? If not, will she face charges too? I'm going to try to follow up on this incident.
    Sheley = Croslin/Cummings/Sheffield ????

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    1. im speakin for my daddy i love him very much and the only reason he kept us in the house was to keep us safe

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    2. There is nothing wrong with you loving your daddy very much Jazmine. I just wish his children were a higher priority in his choices...if they were...he wouldn't be sitting in prison and you wouldn't be on the internet defending him...just saying. Just a question...if he was hiding in the closet ...how does that keep you safe? I do wish you a happy life Jazmine....you are not responsible for your parents decisions even though you may suffer the consequences.

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  3. I so agree with you, why would anyone put her children in this kind of dangerous environment? I just don't get it. (I hope LE told her to get the hades out of there before they showed up with the SWAT Team!!)

    WTH is the matter with these men? That kind of stand off with police usually ends badly - fortunately for all involved, the tear gas was an effective neutralizer.

    Do you have any background information on the Sheley's? Were they brought up in a similar environment, with crime an everyday event?

    I also agree with your very last comment/question. I have a picture in my mind that I have not been able to shake of Ron, showing Tim Miller the gun in his closet - then showing him how he was going to use it on himself, as soon as he was done taking care of the perp who took Haleigh - he put the muzzle in his mouth! All this while his little boy was in the room!!!

    There is no thought process towards how their bad behavior effects the children.

    Speaking of bad behavior, I have been ready some of the statement analysis - articles and posts. The OP is of the belief that gals like Casey have abuse (most often sexual) in their history - always!

    Because of the lies, lies, accusations and lies, I don't know if this one little bit of Casey's ongoing saga is believable or not - mostly because she told Jesse, Lee "wanted her" and then told Tony, that George had abused her, but from what I read originally, Tony said the type of abuse wasn't specified. Of course with 5 Million pages of transcript since the early days, that answer could have changed. But I am leaning 90% against Casey's "truths" - she is truly a case of "How do you know KC is lying?" "Her lips are moving!"

    Anyway, what I was getting at, there has never been any rumor of abuse in the Barker household - so I am leaning towards the author of those statements being off on this one.

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  4. Evidently both Josh and Nick and their cousin Eric Smith have all had lengthy records, I know Nick had felony charges in middle school. I don't know if there are any more Sheley boyz kicking up trouble.....let's hope not....not necessarily no more boyz just no more trouble. How much can one family take?


    I really enjoy reading those statement analysis but I learned a long time ago, in life much like when taking a test....if the answer is "always" or "never" it's usually false.

    Casey Anthony has lied so much that even though she may show some symptoms of having been sexually abused, such as promiscuity, I am loathe to believe her about anything, without something to corroborate her claims, besides her own words. Although, I must admit.....the tone of George's letters may lend some credibility, strange. ~shrugging shoulders and saying wth ~

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  5. Katfish,
    I grew up with the Sheley boys. They have the most wonderful parents. They grew up middle class dad was a business owner. They had a beautiful home environment and there were no obvious signs that they would turn out this way. I think it mostly had to do with drugs. Everyone who grows up in Sterling, IL gets in to drugs. There is nothing else there... Sterling is a HUGE hub for dealers. Drugs pass through Sterling going to the Quad Cities (Iowa), Chicago, Rockford, Peoria. Not Saying that this excuses their behavior. Just trying to give you a little background. I knew Josh and was a good friend of his from about 6th grade until about 1997. I knew his family. One of their uncles is a Christian pastor. In regards to Josh "helping cover up murders his brother commited" if he did I"m sure it just had to do with him trying to protect Nick. That is one thing about Josh is that he would always try to do whatever he could to protect Nick. I know of a few times he "took the blame" for something Nick did. When I was a Senior in High School Josh started getting in to some of the stronger drugs and ever since then he has slowly turned in to a different person. But thanks for giving the public a nuetral view and allowing people to make their own opinion of what they think about these brothers based on the facts. I really hope people in Sterling and Rock Falls don't judge the rest of their family based on these 2 boys.

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  6. Anon 3/30 11:55 AM,
    Thank you for your kind and thoughtful comment. I try to remain objective when reporting on any of the true crime cases I follow.....although sometimes my opinions do come through (I guess that's just a part of blogging.LOL) I'm afraid based on reading comments at Whiteside Co. online papers and places like Topix.com that many people do pass judgement on the family for what Nick and Josh do....imo that is unfair. I try not to do that here. Have you read any other posts about Sheley here? Feel free to comment on any of the posts. It is good to get the whole picture of those involved.
    Thanks for stopping by katfishponders :)

    Just for the record, I don't mind differing opinions either as long as they are presented in a respectful way....no vulgar language or ridiculing other's comments(Those comments are removed)yesterday someone left comments on a few of my Sheley posts wanting to know why i'm obsessed with NS. LOL The comments were in compliance with my rules so they stayed but I definitely responded.

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