A Cook County man faces nine felony charges – including burglary, theft, and forgery – after authorities say he stole merchandise from the Sterling Menards store and paid over $1,600 to the store using a forged check.

A Sterling man was sentenced to six years in prison Tuesday after admitting he set a 2023 Sterling house fire in the middle of the night after learning a registered sex offender lived there

A Rock Falls man accused of firing a gun into a car will stay out of jail on pretrial release under strict home monitoring, including video doorbells at every entrance.

A Rock Falls man has been charged in Whiteside County with four counts of possession of child sex abuse material

Deputies were told that a person in Paw Paw had earlier been contacted and informed their Apple account had been “hacked" and was then transferred to a person posing as an FBI agent, who told the individual they needed to pay money to capture the "hacker."

A Deer Grove man who pleaded guilty two years ago to driving under the influence of drugs and causing a 2020 head-on crash that killed a Sterling businessman, was resentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday after he admitted earlier this year to using cocaine while on probation.

A Rock Falls man has been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to a weapons charge.

The attorney for an Oregon man charged with recklessly firing a gun during an April 7 incident involving two utility workers told an Ogle County judge last week that her client fired the shots into the ground only to “scare off” the men because he thought they might be burglars.

Heath A. Knipple, 46, was charged July 2, 2025, with six counts of Class X felony dissemination of images of child sex abuse, with each count listing the victim as younger than 13. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison if he is convicted.

A Lee County judge on Thursday set a June hearing for a Georgia man who’s pleaded not guilty to drug charges related to the Jan. 16 police search of a stranded vehicle near Amboy.

A Creston woman who was sentenced in March to five years in prison for causing a 2022 fatal crash that claimed the life of an Addison man has filed motions to withdraw her guilty plea and have her sentence reconsidered.

An Illinois appellate court has ordered a new hearing in a 2011 Sterling shooting case, ruling that a man convicted of attempted murder has possibly presented credible evidence of self-defense that was unavailable at trial.

An Amboy woman was taken into custody Thursday night in Dixon on an outstanding warrant for seven felony drug charges and subsequently charged with four additional felony drug offenses.

An Illinois appellate court has upheld the conviction of a Rock Falls man in connection with a fire at a Sterling apartment complex that killed three people in June 2020.

Shanna M. Hillers of Sterling is charged in Lee County with aggravated battery in a public place, a Class 3 felony; official misconduct of a public employee, a Class 3 felony; and abuse/criminal neglect of a resident of a long-term care facility, a Class 4 felony.

A Rochelle man has been charged with battering a pregnant woman after an April 13 incident in Rochelle

Nine criminal charges filed against a Rock Falls man in connection with shots fired at a Rock Falls party last summer were dropped Monday as part of a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to burglary in an unrelated case

A Rochelle man was arrested Tuesday afternoon on a warrant issued Feb. 17 for nine charges filed that day alleging he sexually assaulted, abused and exploited children.

A 22-year-old Chicago woman pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges tied to the October 2025 crash on Interstate 88 that resulted in the death of a 27-year-old Rochelle woman.

A Compton man has pleaded not guilty to charges that include attempted first-degree murder filed against him in the wake of an altercation April 12.

A Sterling landlord has been charged after an investigation into living conditions at an apartment complex discovered pest and rodent infestation and no smoke or carbon monoxide detectors, city officials say

A Whiteside County man has been charged with three counts of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol and four additional traffic-related offenses following an incident March 20.

A Sterling man has been charged with aggravated fleeing or eluding a police officer and multiple traffic violations following a March 3 incident in Whiteside County

A Compton man is charged with attempted first-degree murder, weapons, and battery offenses after a fight near Compton, according to the Lee County sheriff

A Rock Falls man convicted in late 2025 of severely beating his 61-year-old neighbor is challenging his guilty verdict and 7-year prison sentence, arguing he was denied a fair trial due to Whiteside County’s previous systemic exclusion of qualified jurors from the jury pool.

A Lee County judge Thursday granted pretrial, conditional release to a Rock Falls woman facing nine sex-related charges that accuse her of sexually assaulting, abusing and exploiting minors.

A Lee County judge Thursday denied the release of a Dixon man charged with the sexual exploitation and assault of a child, despite his attorney’s arguments that prosecutors did not meet their burden of proof.

A Sterling man with a history of speeding convictions is now accused of fleeing police and driving over 100 miles per hour on Riverdale Road on March 31 near Rock Falls.

A Rockford man faces a multitude of charges after Byron police say he fled in his vehicle after being pulled over Saturday for suspected reckless driving, jumped into the Rock River and tried to swim to an island to avoid arrest.

Two people have been charged in connection with a residential break-in in Stillman Valley.

A Lee County judge set an April 15 hearing for Plano man facing several drug and domestic battery charges in Lee and Dupage counties.

A Sterling man has been charged in Whiteside County with possessing child sexual abuse material.

A Dixon man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to several aggravated domestic battery charges, including some that accuse him of strangulation and great bodily harm.

A Dixon man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to one count of criminal neglect/abuse of an elderly person, a Class 3 felony.

A Lee County judge sentenced a Wisconsin man on March 19 to a maximum of 12 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to two felony charges tied to a 2022 police chase in which an Illinois state trooper was shot at, but not injured.

The defense attorney for a Chicago woman accused of falsely reporting a shooting in Ogle County during a rodeo near Rochelle last year argued Tuesday that the charges were filed in retaliation over controversy about such events and should be dismissed.

A Mount Prospect teen accused of possessing a firearm and fleeing from police will be detained until at least his next court appearance, prosecutors said

Three Dixon residents have been charged in connection with an investigation into a theft at the Nelson Township Building on Sunday night.

Christopher L. Lindsley, 42, was taken into custody on a warrant around 3 a.m. Monday after police spotted him riding a bicycle while wearing a wig on the Peoria Avenue bridge in Dixon.

A Woodridge man charged with leading police on a high-speed chase Wednesday will remain in jail until at least his next court appearance, prosecutors said

A 38-year-old Dixon man was sentenced Wednesday to 120 days in the Whiteside County Jail and four years of probation in exchange for his guilty plea to a 2023 charge of possessing an image of child sexual abuse.

Duane “DC” Meyer, 43, was found guilty Jan. 29 of murdering Maggie (Rosko) Meyer, 31, and the couple’s 3-year-old son, Amos, in their Byron home Sept. 19, 2016.

Two men accused of leading police on high-speed chases will remain in jail until at least their next court dates, prosecutors said

A judge has ruled that Whiteside County may have been improperly excluding jurors for years, raising questions about whether the county’s jury selection process violates state law and defendants’ constitutional rights

Editor’s note: Today marks the second installment of a two-day series about the growing number of women charged with domestic assault.

A Lee County judge on Thursday denied a furlough request made by a 65-year-old Dixon man charged with attempted murder and home invasion.

A Sterling man is jailed in Whiteside County as a result of an investigation into a criminal sexual assault allegation

Editor’s note: Today marks the first installment of a two-day series about the growing number of women charged with domestic assault

A Rock Falls woman has pleaded not guilty to nine sex-related charges, several of which accuse her of sexually assaulting, abusing and exploiting minors

A Monroe Center man was sentenced to prison Friday after pleading guilty to identity theft and aggravated fleeing.