EDWARDSVILLE – A wide variety of charges including damaging a gravestone, attempting to elude police, and “deceptive practices” have been filed in Madison County, according to court documents released last week.
Demontez L. Spruill, 22, of Maryland Heights, Mo., was charged by the Alton Police Department with unlawfully causing damage to a gravestone on Jan. 14, 2024.
According to court documents, Spruill “willfully and knowingly defaced, vandalized, injured, or removed a gravestone or other memorial, monument, or marker commemorating a deceased person or group of persons.” Specifically, Spruill reportedly knocked over the gravestone of someone buried at Upper Alton Cemetery.
Spruill faces a Class 4 felony charge and was released upon his signature of a Conditions of Pretrial Release Order.
James M. Long, 34, of Collinsville, was charged with aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer on June 10, 2023. Court documents allege Long “knowingly failed to obey and attempted to flee and elude [a] Madison County Sheriff’s Deputy” after the deputy had given him a visual or audible signal to stop.
Long was reportedly driving at least 21 miles per hour over the legal speed limit, and court documents state he had previously been convicted of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer on Oct. 17, 2022 in Madison County.
One Class 3 felony charge has been filed against Long, who was released upon his signature of a Conditions of Pretrial Release Order.
Dedrick M. Miller, 54, of Irving, Texas, was charged with one count of deceptive practices from an incident that took place on March 15, 2023.
Court documents state Miller wrote out and delivered a bad check for $13,200 which he knew “would not be paid by the depository,” with the intent to defraud and to “obtain control over certain property or to pay for property, labor, or services of another.”
Miller faces one Class 4 felony filed by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office. Court documents indicate he was released upon his signature of a Conditions of Pretrial Release Order.
The issuance of charges is based solely upon probable cause and is not an indication of guilt. All subjects charged with criminal offenses are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
