Days Gone By In Staunton

Thursday, Oct. 25, 1990 -- RASH OF BURGLARIES REPORTED LAST WEEKEND -- Five burglaries and one attempted burglary last weekend in the City of Staunton is "very, very unusual," according to Tom Stipcak of the Police Department. Since the burglaries are under investigation, Stipcak could make little comment on evidence or suspects. The Macoupin County Sheriffs Department and the Illinois Department of Criminal Investigation were notified of the break-ins. "We assist as much as possible," Lieutenant Don Bertagnolli of the County Department said. There were break-ins at the Virden and Carlinville Hardee's Restaurants as well as the one in Staunton. He said he believed those three break-ins were related. An attempt was made to remove the safe from the Staunton Hardee's but it was abandoned for some reason. Apparently nothing else was taken.

Bertagnolli said "this is kind of the off-season" for residential burglaries. He said residential burglaries can be expected during the holiday season.

Stipcak said people should be sure their windows and doors are locked, and dead-bolt locks should be used on doors. He suggested that people should be alert for strange vehicles and unknown individuals who suddenly begin frequenting neighborhoods.

If street lights are out the power company should be notified. He said the best deterrent to burglaries was for people "to work together with their neighbors in a 'watch program'."

People can tell trusted neighbors when they are leaving home and ask them to keep an eye on their property.

Newspaper and mail delivery can also be temporarily stopped if the home is going to be vacant for a time.

Bertagnolli suggested if people were going to be away from home for a time that they should notify their local police department.

No Action On Accidental Spray May Bring Penalty -- Passing information on the accidental spraying of chemicals on cars

and property in Staunton in July from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to the Attorney General's office may result in fines to responsible parties. According to Bruce Rodman of the IEPA, who spoke at a public meeting in Staunton two weeks ago, this is a routine occurrence. He said that when violations of the Environmental Protection Act occur, his office does investigative work and refers the issue to the Attorney General's office for action.

On July 16 a chemical mist was accidentally released into the air by a vacuum truck owned by Able Industrial Maintenance and Cleaning of East St. Louis. Able was subcontracted by Rust Company, general contractor of Staunton's relief sewer line project, to clean sewer lines.

During malfunction of the truck a chemical mist residual from previous work done by Able, was sprayed onto more than 600 cars, some homes and people. Soon after the incident Able's insurance carrier, CNA of St. Louis, stated they would not cover damages from the incident. A large number of claimants in the incident filed and settled claims with their own insurance companies under their comprehensive coverage. A number of claimants who carried only liability insurance were not able to do so and received no settlement from Able, Rust or their insurance carriers.

Rodman said that the department has not really made a specific recommendation, but feels that someone should be penalized. He said that the Attorney General's office may file suit against Able, the general contractor of the sewer job, which is Rust Company, or the manufacturer of the equipment, Peabody - Meyers. Rodman said there was no indication that Monsanto or the insurance carriers would be affected by the penalties.

Rodman said one of the main concerns with the spray incident is to get some action on the damage claims.

He said, "I doubt that any partial settlement would be sufficient to drop the issue." Rodman said that he was "pretty sure that this being passed on to the Attorney General s office shouldn't come as a big surprise" to the parties involved.

Thursday, Nov. 1, 1990 -- Staunton City Council scheduled a special meeting for last Wednesday, October 24 in case council action would be necessary following a police committee meeting scheduled for October 23.

Explaining the police committee meeting, Committee Chairman Gene Libbra said," I didn't think we were spending enough time on an important subject," following a rash of breakins in Staunton. At the special meeting on the 24th Libbra reported that some of the problems had been resolved. A lack of communication between police officers was sited as part of the problem.

Libbra said Lieutenant Andrew Pingolt had been appointed some time ago as Staunton's chief investigator. Libbra said Pingolt is now spending whatever time is necessary investigating cases in the city. "That is his first priority," he said.

Also at the special meeting, a motion to restrict Halloween "trick or treating" to October 31 was rescinded. Children were allowed to "trick or treat" both the 30th and 31st from 6 to 9 p. m. City Clerk Del Stiegemeier said he had contacted daily newspapers and local radio stations to get the word out as soon as possible. He said that "word of mouth" probably accomplished a great deal of news distribution in this case.