Man apprehended in break-in
BY ALYSSA MEIER
Editor
One individual caught burglarizing a Garrison home last week has been arrested, while the second intruder, accused of assault by one victim, remains on the run.
After finding the home he was watching had been broken into on Aug. 6, Ray Blacksmith contacted the McLean County Sheriff’s Department for assistance, advising he believed there may be two individuals still inside the house. Officers arrived at the house, located on 15th Street in Garrison, and saw the front gate and chain had been damaged.
Blacksmith told authorities that Duane Bear had been on the property earlier that day, apparently intoxicated, and that he and Kelly Leppell both told him to leave. Blacksmith said he gated and chained the entrance to the property, but found the mechanisms broken when he returned around 5 p.m. He said he went into the home to find it had been vandalized and Kelly wasn’t visible.
