CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, IL. (Chambana Today) — Champaign County Sheriff’s deputies made nine arrests for driving under the influence and seized illicit drugs and a firearm during an active enforcement weekend spanning Jan. 30 through Feb. 1, Sheriff Dustin Heuerman announced.
Deputies conducted multiple traffic stops and responded to several crashes across Champaign, Urbana, Savoy, Philo, and surrounding areas. Two of the incidents resulted in the recovery of controlled substances and a firearm, while several others involved impaired drivers and revoked or suspended licenses.
On Friday evening, deputies stopped a vehicle in the 900 block of West Beardsley Avenue in Champaign after a K-9 alerted on the car. A search uncovered cannabis, cocaine, and open alcohol. The driver, Demetrice Miller, 42, of Urbana, was taken into custody following a brief altercation and charged with aggravated DUI, driving with a revoked license, and multiple drug- and alcohol-related offenses.
Later Friday, deputies arrested Kenneth Hall, 53, of Philo, after responding to a report of a man passed out in a vehicle at a convenience store. Hall was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.
Near midnight Friday, a traffic stop at Cunningham and Oakland avenues in Urbana escalated when the driver, Steve Moffett, 34, of Urbana, attempted to flee at a high rate of speed, forcing officers to move to avoid being struck. Moffett was taken into custody after striking an unoccupied vehicle. Deputies recovered large quantities of suspected cannabis, cocaine, fentanyl pills, ecstasy tablets, and a loaded 9mm handgun with a defaced serial number. He faces multiple felony charges, including armed violence and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
Additional DUI arrests were made Saturday and Sunday following traffic stops and crashes in Savoy and Urbana, including a serious crash at Airport Road and Dunlap Avenue that sent one driver to the hospital with serious injuries.
Sheriff Heuerman urged motorists to plan ahead when consuming alcohol or other intoxicating substances, emphasizing that impaired driving can result in serious injury or death.
All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.