Centralia Police will have a meeting with the management of One Hope United next Tuesday to seek a solution to about a half dozen residents who have been arrested multiple times for alleged attacks on staff and crimes at Centralia businesses.
Police Lieutenant Steve Whritenour says the situation cannot continue because it takes too much police resources. He says that after the juvenile girls are charged with crimes, many times they are released right back to the Centralia One Hope campus where they committed additional crimes.
Marion County State’s Attorney Tim Hudspeth says it is apparent One Hope staff cannot handle the group of girls at the Centralia campus and they need to be taken elsewhere. He notes the constant criminal activity is also taking its toll on court and county resources.
Because of continued arrests, three of the One Hope residents were ordered detained by the court until their next appearance after being charged Tuesday with robbery, mob action and retail theft. Since there is no available juvenile facility in Southern Illinois, the sheriff's department had to transported them to Quincy and Galesburg. The cost of holding juveniles is also extremely expensive. Rates are $200 and above daily, plus round trip transport that takes 11 hours to complete, and the payment of any medical expenses.
The latest incident to land the three in trouble following a Monday incident at the Five Star Tobacco and Vape on North Elm, where they allegedly went behind the counter, grabbed different vapes and shoved an employee out of the way. The three were arrested about a block away and transported to the Marion County Jail to await an initial court appearance. A fourth One Hope juvenile was in court Tuesday for criminal damage to property to one of the One Hope buildings. She reportedly threatened staff and flipped over furniture. Since the charge was a misdemeanor, that juvenile was returned back to One Hope United.
We’ll let you know what happens at the Tuesday meeting between One Hope and the City of Centralia.
(Updated to change date of meeting to next Tuesday)
