Officers involved with Madison County’s Cross-River Crime Task Force apprehended a nationwide fugitive and made arrests on weapons and drug charges during last month’s deployment.
“This unit already is having an impact,” Major Nick Novacich stated in a press release. “This is an innovative approach to crime-fighting, one that aims to both fend off crime in a proactive manner, and to help in the apprehension of those who have committed crimes. As we continue to fine-tune the operation, I’m confident we’ll continue to see meaningful results.”
Novacich serves as commander of the Cross-River Crime Task Force.
The task force, which was created in 2021 by Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine, is comprised of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. They use data from Automated License Plate Readers in conjunction with saturation patrols in an effort to stop the flow of crime coming into Madison County from across the Mississippi River.
The Dec. 15 deployment was the unit’s second saturation patrol and focused on the Alton area.
During the deployment, officers took a Kansas man into custody on a nationwide extradition warrant issued in a felony stalking case.
“You don’t see nationwide extradition warrants every day,” Novavich said. “They’re not issued for low-level or mid-level offenses.”
Officers also took into custody Daron S. Hearn, 20, and Keith A. Sanders, 23, both of Alton. They were arrested on weapons charges. Hearn was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Sanders was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a weapon by a felon. Officers found a 9mm handgun in the vehicle being occupied by both Hearn and Sanders.
During another traffic stop, a vehicle occupant was in possession of suspected ecstasy (MDMA) and cocaine. Charges are pending the results of lab tests.
Officers also cited a motorist for driving with a suspended license and suspended registration in an uninsured vehicle; discovered a hypodermic syringe with a substance believed to be contraband; arrested a suspect with an active warrant; and took a motorist into custody for multiple active warrants while also driving with a suspended license in an uninsured vehicle.
“This is cutting-edge enforcement that will deter crime and get criminals off the streets, as well as guns and drugs” Alton Mayor David Goins stated. “A big thank-you to the task force for coming to the Alton area to help make our community a safer place for our residents.”
By coincidence, the Cross-River Crime Task Force deployment took place on the same day that Caleb L. Campbell, 24, of Florissant, Mo., was convicted of killing Brooklyn Police Officer Brian Pierce Jr. while attempting to flee into Missouri across the McKinley Bridge.
Campbell was charged with first degree murder for fatally hitting Pierce on Aug. 4, 2021.
“We will not stand by and watch as our bridges become escape routes for wrongdoers who want to commit crimes against our residents and then try to flee across the river,” Haine stated.
During the bench trial, which began Dec. 12 in Associate Judge Neil Schroeder’s courtroom, another Brooklyn police officer testified that one in three attempted traffic stops in his jurisdiction results in the driver trying to flee across the bridge into Missouri.
Campbell had an active Missouri warrant for his arrest when he fled from an officer attempting to conduct a traffic stop. Dash-camera video from the pursuit showed him speeding through intersections, ignoring traffic-control devices and speeding past other motorists who were stopped on the bridge. Pierce was standing outside his patrol vehicle after placing a spike strip across the bridge when he was hit.
When announcing the verdict, Schroeder said prosecutors proved that Campbell’s actions created a situation where “anything or anyone” in his path “was going to be obliterated,” but he “simply did not care.”
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 23 at 2 p.m. Prosecutors plan to ask for a life sentence.