ALTON – Two incidents of battery in public and one against an elderly victim have yielded felony charges against three local residents.
Flynn M. Shaffner, 44, of Alton, was charged on Jan. 28, 2026 with a Class 3 felony count of aggravated battery. Shaffner allegedly pushed a victim who was 60 years of age or older out of their wheelchair on Nov. 17, 2025, knowingly causing bodily harm without legal justification.
In a separate case, 37-year-old Donald L. Berry Jr. of Wood River also faces a Class 3 felony count of aggravated battery stemming from an incident of battery in public. Berry reportedly reversed his vehicle in the Walgreens parking lot on Washington Avenue in Alton, knowingly striking another individual in the legs on May 17, 2025.
The Alton Police Department presented both cases against Shaffner and Berry, both of whom were granted pretrial release from custody.
Granite City police charged a local resident in another unrelated battery case filed on Jan. 28, 2026. Anthony F. Sandella Jr., 31, of Granite City, was charged with a Class 3 felony count of aggravated battery.
Sandella is accused of knowingly striking another individual in the face while the victim was at a public place, the Phillips 66 location on Pontoon Road in Granite City, causing them bodily harm without legal justification on Dec. 31, 2025.
Sandella was also ordered released from custody pending trial in the case presented by the Granite City Police Department.
All individuals charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
