Illinois manhunt finally ends; man arrested

Union County, Illinois, sheriff’s deputies arrested Dejun D. Booker, 26, of Indianapolis about 10 a.m. Tuesday, concluding a search that lasted nearly two days, Sheriff Scott Harvel said.

A Union County Sheriff’s Department plainclothes detective saw Booker on Tuesday morning at 1840 Morgan School Road in Jonesboro, Illinois, and Booker was detained without any resistance, Harvel said.

Booker was knocking on doors along Morgan School Road, trying to find which homes were occupied, Harvel said.

The Union County state’s attorney charged Booker with two counts of armed violence and one count of burglary. Booker did not have a gun when he was arrested, Harvel said.

Deputies and several law-enforcement agencies narrowed their search area and established a perimeter around Morgan School Road after a resident saw Booker about 6 p.m. Monday, Harvel said.

“At that point, it was a waiting game,” Harvel said.

Booker; Jeffrey G. Hunter, 35, of Indianapolis; Christian A. Lowe, 21, of Indianapolis; Johnny J. Robinson, 35, of Greenville, Mississippi; and Toni K. McClellan, 42, of Indianapolis forced their way through a door of the Revlon Tavern near Ware, Illinois, just before midnight Sunday, Harvel said.

Revlon Tavern employees asked one member of a five-person party to leave the bar earlier that night, Harvel said.

Hunter, Lowe, Robinson and McClellan were arrested shortly after deputies arrived on the scene of the burglary call. But Booker ran into a wooded area off Route 146, Harvel said. Deputies heard a gunshot as they chased Booker, Harvel said.

Officers from Illinois State Police, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jonesboro, Illinois, Police Department, Anna, Illinois, Police Department and Cobden, Illinois, Police Department assisted.

Harvel said the team used air surveillance, but Booker hid in dense woods and soybean fields. The cover was so thick, Booker was not picked up on aerial surveillance outfitted with thermal-imaging equipment, Harvel said.

Shawnee District Schools canceled school Tuesday because of the manhunt, according to the school district’s Facebook page.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address: 1840 Morgan School Road, Jonesboro, Illinois