Suspect In Illinois Cop Murder Arrested In North Manchester
January 2, 2022 at 11:02 p.m.
Suspect In Illinois Cop Murder Arrested In North Manchester
By David [email protected]
A second Illinois man was arrested in North Manchester on weapons and drug charges.
The arrests came after a police pursuit in Rochester.
“Any time an officer is killed in the line of duty, no matter where it happens in the country, it affects all of us,” Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield said during a press conference Friday afternoon in North Manchester.
At 3:30 a.m. Friday, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle that was traveling the wrong way on a one-way road in Rochester, Fifield said. As a result of the traffic stop that was initiated, a vehicle pursuit took place. When the vehicle pursuit concluded, officers then gave chase to the suspects on foot. The suspects were eventually taken into custody without further incident.
At the end of the pursuit, a handgun and narcotics were recovered from the scene, Fifield said. The two men taken into custody were Bryce Baker, 20, and Joshua Adams, 26, both of Kankakee, Ill. They were charged with possession of stolen property, resisting law enforcement and possession of a handgun without a license.
At approximately 9:30 a.m. Friday, officers with the U.S. Marshall’s Great Lakes Fugitive Task Force, which involves officers from northern and central Illinois and northern Indiana, attained a search warrant through the Wabash Circuit Court for a residence at 1001 N. Bond St., North Manchester. The U.S. Marshals contacted the Indiana State Police North SWAT Team, with assistance from the Central SWAT Team, to execute the search warrant at the residence, Fifield stated.
As a result of that search warrant, two men were taken into custody without incident and several weapons and narcotics were recovered.
Taken into custody were Daniel F. Acros, 19, Kankakee, and Darius Sullivan, 26, Kankakee.
Sullivan had warrants out for his arrest out of Illinois for first degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery using a firearm, Fifield said.
Fifield confirmed that Sullivan is a suspect wanted for the murder of Sgt. Marlene Rittmanic and injuries to officer Tyler Bailey, both of the Bradley Police Department.
According to ABC7Chicago.com, on Wednesday night, Rittmanic, 49, and her partner, Bailey, 27, responded to a call of dogs barking in an unattended car in the parking lot at Comfort Inn, off of Route 50, the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office said. They went to the hotel room where the car’s owner was staying when police say the people inside the room began attacking the two officers, shooting them.
Rittmanic was killed and Bailey was badly hurt. Bailey was transported to Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill., where he underwent surgery for severe head injuries, ABC 7 reported.
At the time of the Friday afternoon press conference, Sullivan was in the custody of the NMPD but was scheduled to be transferred to the Wabash County Sheriff’s Department. Illinois State Police said in a news release Friday that arrangements were being made to extradite Sullivan from Indiana to Kankakee County.
“In a multi-jurisdictional effort, two alleged cop killers have been taken into custody today and will now face justice,” Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said in the release.
Acros was preliminarily charged with weapon and narcotic charges in Wabash County as a result of the search warrant, according to an Indiana State Police news release.
At the time of the press conference Friday, Xandria Harris, 26, of Bradley, remained at large and there was a reward for any information that led to her arrest. Harris turned herself at about 4 p.m. Friday to the Bradley Police Department after Sullivan was arrested, according to an Associated Press story Saturday. She was accompanied by her attorney, Phil Haddad, and being held at a detention facility in Kankakee. Haddad declined to discuss Harris’s alleged involvement in the shooting of the Bradley police officers, but said that she turned herself in voluntarily and will appear in bond court on Monday.
“She maintains her innocence. She’s a mother of three children and she’s pregnant,” Haddad told WLS-TV on Friday, the AP reported.
The Associated Press reported investigators believe Harris was at the hotel when Rittmanic and Bailey were shot.
Illinois State Police did not specify in their news release what charges Harris faces, according to the AP, but the (Kankakee) Daily Journal reported that she had been charged in a no-bond warrant with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
At Friday’s press conference, Fifield said part of the investigation was to determine the connection between Sullivan and the Bond Street residence in North Manchester. He also said that Manchester University was locked down during the search warrant and arrests, which lasted approximately one hour.
The Daily Journal reported that five other people have been arrested in connection with the officer shootings, including two people who allegedly impeded the search for Sullivan and Harris, according to an AP story.
The murder of Rittmanic and shooting of Bailey is an ongoing investigation by the Illinois State Police.
Rittmanic first became an officer in 2000 with the Iroquois County Sheriff’s Department, ABC 7 reported. She had been with the Bradley Police Department for 14 years and she was about five years away from retirement. She leaves behind her wife, Lynette Stua.
Assisting at the scene Friday in North Manchester were the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department, Wabash County Sheriff’s Department, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department, Warsaw Police Department, North Manchester Police Department, Akron Police Department, North Manchester Fire Department, Manchester University Security, Lutheran EMS and the Wabash Fire Department.
A second Illinois man was arrested in North Manchester on weapons and drug charges.
The arrests came after a police pursuit in Rochester.
“Any time an officer is killed in the line of duty, no matter where it happens in the country, it affects all of us,” Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield said during a press conference Friday afternoon in North Manchester.
At 3:30 a.m. Friday, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle that was traveling the wrong way on a one-way road in Rochester, Fifield said. As a result of the traffic stop that was initiated, a vehicle pursuit took place. When the vehicle pursuit concluded, officers then gave chase to the suspects on foot. The suspects were eventually taken into custody without further incident.
At the end of the pursuit, a handgun and narcotics were recovered from the scene, Fifield said. The two men taken into custody were Bryce Baker, 20, and Joshua Adams, 26, both of Kankakee, Ill. They were charged with possession of stolen property, resisting law enforcement and possession of a handgun without a license.
At approximately 9:30 a.m. Friday, officers with the U.S. Marshall’s Great Lakes Fugitive Task Force, which involves officers from northern and central Illinois and northern Indiana, attained a search warrant through the Wabash Circuit Court for a residence at 1001 N. Bond St., North Manchester. The U.S. Marshals contacted the Indiana State Police North SWAT Team, with assistance from the Central SWAT Team, to execute the search warrant at the residence, Fifield stated.
As a result of that search warrant, two men were taken into custody without incident and several weapons and narcotics were recovered.
Taken into custody were Daniel F. Acros, 19, Kankakee, and Darius Sullivan, 26, Kankakee.
Sullivan had warrants out for his arrest out of Illinois for first degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery using a firearm, Fifield said.
Fifield confirmed that Sullivan is a suspect wanted for the murder of Sgt. Marlene Rittmanic and injuries to officer Tyler Bailey, both of the Bradley Police Department.
According to ABC7Chicago.com, on Wednesday night, Rittmanic, 49, and her partner, Bailey, 27, responded to a call of dogs barking in an unattended car in the parking lot at Comfort Inn, off of Route 50, the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office said. They went to the hotel room where the car’s owner was staying when police say the people inside the room began attacking the two officers, shooting them.
Rittmanic was killed and Bailey was badly hurt. Bailey was transported to Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill., where he underwent surgery for severe head injuries, ABC 7 reported.
At the time of the Friday afternoon press conference, Sullivan was in the custody of the NMPD but was scheduled to be transferred to the Wabash County Sheriff’s Department. Illinois State Police said in a news release Friday that arrangements were being made to extradite Sullivan from Indiana to Kankakee County.
“In a multi-jurisdictional effort, two alleged cop killers have been taken into custody today and will now face justice,” Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said in the release.
Acros was preliminarily charged with weapon and narcotic charges in Wabash County as a result of the search warrant, according to an Indiana State Police news release.
At the time of the press conference Friday, Xandria Harris, 26, of Bradley, remained at large and there was a reward for any information that led to her arrest. Harris turned herself at about 4 p.m. Friday to the Bradley Police Department after Sullivan was arrested, according to an Associated Press story Saturday. She was accompanied by her attorney, Phil Haddad, and being held at a detention facility in Kankakee. Haddad declined to discuss Harris’s alleged involvement in the shooting of the Bradley police officers, but said that she turned herself in voluntarily and will appear in bond court on Monday.
“She maintains her innocence. She’s a mother of three children and she’s pregnant,” Haddad told WLS-TV on Friday, the AP reported.
The Associated Press reported investigators believe Harris was at the hotel when Rittmanic and Bailey were shot.
Illinois State Police did not specify in their news release what charges Harris faces, according to the AP, but the (Kankakee) Daily Journal reported that she had been charged in a no-bond warrant with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
At Friday’s press conference, Fifield said part of the investigation was to determine the connection between Sullivan and the Bond Street residence in North Manchester. He also said that Manchester University was locked down during the search warrant and arrests, which lasted approximately one hour.
The Daily Journal reported that five other people have been arrested in connection with the officer shootings, including two people who allegedly impeded the search for Sullivan and Harris, according to an AP story.
The murder of Rittmanic and shooting of Bailey is an ongoing investigation by the Illinois State Police.
Rittmanic first became an officer in 2000 with the Iroquois County Sheriff’s Department, ABC 7 reported. She had been with the Bradley Police Department for 14 years and she was about five years away from retirement. She leaves behind her wife, Lynette Stua.
Assisting at the scene Friday in North Manchester were the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department, Wabash County Sheriff’s Department, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department, Warsaw Police Department, North Manchester Police Department, Akron Police Department, North Manchester Fire Department, Manchester University Security, Lutheran EMS and the Wabash Fire Department.
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