Streator woman charged in Wednesday gunfire at her neighbor released

A Streator woman was released from the La Salle County Jail, with conditions, after being charged Thursday with repeatedly firing a pistol in the 100 block of East Sumner Street. There were no injuries.

Belinda L. Foreman, 61, appeared in La Salle County Circuit Court and was charged with reckless discharge of a firearm, a Class 4 felony carrying one to three years in prison. The sentencing options include probation and/or jail time.

According to court records, Foreman’s husband was engaged in a dispute about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday when she emerged from her home with a pistol and “fired a round in [the] direction” of her neighbor.

“[Foreman] stated that her neighbor was harassing her husband,” prosecutors said in a companion filing. “[She] stated that she retrieved her handgun, went outside and said, ‘This [expletive] needs to stop,’ and then fired her gun in the air.

“[Foreman] stated that she fired her gun into the air until the gun was empty.”

Prosecutors further noted that investigators retrieved multiple shell casings along with a 0.9-mm handgun.

Initially, the Streator Police Department reported on its Facebook page that Foreman told an officer “she was tired of the Mexicans,” but that was edited out of their statement.

Foreman’s release includes a condition that she have no contact with the neighbor. She will next appear April 17 for arraignment.