The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Dessa Rodeffer, Quill Publisher/Owner
The suspect is in Henderson County jail and the chase is finally over after a 34-year-old man led police officers on a chase in the wooded and crop areas of Hopper and rural Gladstone Friday.
According to Henderson County Sheriff Mark Lumbeck, Bruce Elliott Swan, a walk away from a halfway house in Burlington, Iowa, is now in the Henderson County Jail where he is facing charges for possession of a dangerous weapon.
He can now sign extradiction papers to return to Iowa where he is to face charges of a broken parole.
Swan was serving a 25 year sentence for attempted murder of an Iowa police officer. In 1989, Swan was released to a work program after serving ten years in the Anamosa state prison. He was transferred to a Burlington Halfway House in 2000 and walked away in 2001, the Sheriff said.
Sheriff Lumbeck said things began to happen on Monday when his deputy responded on a dog complaint in Hopper.
He was approached by a woman who asked if he was there to arrest the man who was wanted out of Iowa. The officer said he didn't know about the man, but he would investigate it.
The Sheriff's department checked out the man thru the NCIC system and found that Swan was wanted in Iowa.
The deputy returned to check on Swan, but he had left.
Henderson County Sheriff Mark Lumbeck said they called in the Illinois State Police who summoned their special Tactical Response Team (T.R.T.). The team is heavily trained and equipped with highpower rifles and automatic weapons.
The team of 14 or 15 marksmen dressed in camouflage joined county police, and state police in surveillance of the area Wednesday and Thursday.
Thursday evening, the Sheriff said a search warrant was obtained through States Attorney Ray Cavanaugh for an early morning raid on Friday around 7 A.M..
When the T.R.T. went to apprehend Swan, he eluded them by way of the heavy timber west of his trailer and rental property in Hopper.
The Illinois State Police airplane and IDOT helicopter out of Springfield joined in the search hovering over the area in search of the fugitive who was suspected to be armed and dangerous.
Auxiliary Police were called in to help as well as the Stronghurst Ambulance in case of injuries after a command post was set up in Hopper.
A second post was opened at the scale house where the former Cheap Charlie's was located along U.S. 34. after a call came from Mrs. Curt McChesney who reported hearing her garage door open and felt he could be in their home.
All were summoned to the home, and according to Darren Nichols who was in the Stronghurst Ambulance waiting about a block from the McChesney home, a truck pulled up with the T.R.T. team and officers all piled out searching the area and the home as the helicoper hovered over the house. It was quite a sight, he said.
However, Swan wasn't found to be there and the group met back at the Command Post on US 34. The post was commanded by Illinois State Police District Commander Elliott, Master Sergeant Rolland and Henderson County Sheriff Lumbeck.
According to several area residents, police were knocking on doors, and searching the areas around Hopper and Bluffdale to U.S. 34 and north to Weirs Fruit Farm.
"We had the north and south saturated with police," Lumbeck said.
The Sheriff provided the group with water and sandwiches at the Command Post as they reviewed the situation.
At 7:05 p.m., they received another call that a resident living on farmland owned by the Weirs west of the Fruit Farm had a man fitting Swan's description who had asked for water.
They refused him water, the Sheriff was told, and he fled into the cornfield west of their house.
The State Police K-9 dog was brought on the scene. The dog followed the tracks into the cornfield where Swan was found and taken into custody at 7:30 p.m. He was armed with an automatic pistol but gave no resistance.
Sheriff Lumbeck said if he had anything to do over again, he would have taken the K-9 dog to the scene on the early morning search. He had felt with the number of T.R.T.s and police, that it wouldn't have been necessary, but he said, "I'm glad everything went as well as it did and we have him in custody."
While the incident was underway, Ernie Waterman of Stronghurst, a former resident of Hopper, was able to snap a few pictures and talk to some residents in the area.
He was told that Bruce Swan had lived in Hopper for sometime in the trailer that was on the north side of the Olena blacktop that runs through Hopper. The trailer is owned by Bud Wasson.
Waterman learned that another resident, Barbara Boughton had been told by her three children that Swan had said he was wanted by the police for murder, but they didn't pay much attention to it.
Then, on Sunday night, a dog owned by Swan had bitten Barbara's daughter, Amanda, so she called the police to complain.
Deputy David Thompson checked on the dog complaint, Waterman was told, and was asked if he knew Swan was wanted by police. A computer check found it to be true.
Ill. State Police Airplane aid in the search for an Iowa escapee Friday found in a cornfield near Weirs Fruit Farm.
-photo by Ernie Waterman
The trailer (at left) that Bruce Swan was reportedly living in Hopper.
The Henderson County Ambulance was on standby in case of injuries near the Charles Forrester residence along the Olena blacktop when they were summoned to the Curt McChesney farm. They are headed north out of Olena toward Bluffdale and McChesneys.
The cornfield near the Weir Fruit Farm where Bruce Swan was captured.