Early morning robbery at MotoMart in New Baden leads to arrest Two suspects charged with burglary following police pursuit and arrest in Missouri
Police were centered around MotoMart in New Baden early Thursday morning, Jan. 30, in reference to a robbery at the gas/convenience mart.
Two suspects were taken into custody a few hours later after the vehicle that they were driving following a police pursuit was linked to the robbery in New Baden.
The robbery was reported Jan. 30 at 5:01 a.m. at MotoMart in New Baden (409 E. Hanover St.).
According to police, a black male, approximately 5 feet, 8 inches tall, and weighing 160 pounds, entered the MotoMart in New Baden. He had a white surgical mask on and a white hoodie.
The suspect handed a note to the cashier, instructing her to hand out all of the money. He mentioned a weapon to the cashier, however, no weapon was displayed. The suspect took an undisclosed amount of money and two cartons of cigarettes.
According to reports, he then wiped off the counter before leaving MotoMart. He left in a white two-door passenger vehicle and was last seen headed eastbound on Route 161 in New Baden.
The same vehicle that was at the MotoMart was then spotted in St. Charles County in Missouri, where a high-speed chase occurred on Interstate 70.
The chase began around 7:45 a.m. when a camera system alerted O'Fallon, Missouri, police to the stolen vehicle.
When officers attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver sped off and the pursuit began. Spike strips were deployed, disabling the suspect's vehicle.
A K9 unit swerved to avoid the suspect vehicle and rolled down an embankment. Neither the police officer nor the K-9 were injured from the crash.
Police took both suspects into custody.
Clinton County State's Attorney J.D. Brandmeyer charged both suspects — Zyren O. McFarland, 29, and Aaron N. Kaminski, 26 — with Class 2 felony burglary, however, he said there may be additional charges in the future.
In addition, Brandmeyer said, both men are being held to bond for charges in St. Charles County, Missouri.
No further information is available at this time. More information will be released once available.
Viral TikTok video showcases Trenton mom on people.com
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- Written by: Matt Wilson - Breese Journal Reporter
Trenton mom Christine Litteken with her son Rhett as he talks on his TickTalk 5 smart watch. Submitted photo A TikTok video posted by Trenton resident Christine Litteken has reached national attention.
Litteken was recently featured in the online format of People Magazine, people.com.
Litteken, 36, is a videographer/photographer and works for Switzerfilm in Troy.
Litteken lives in Trenton with her husband Justin, 37, son Rhett (7), daughter Reese (5), and dog Gunner who will be 11 years old on Valentine's Day.
She said her TikTok content is energetic and positive focusing on local things to do, lifestyle content, mom life and everyday lifestyle. Her account name is soILmama. She started posting consistently on TikTok in August 2024, but has videos back from 2020.
The story behind the viral video started on Jan. 3. Justin took Rhett to a boys basketball game at Wesclin High School, where Christine and Justin went to school. The JV and the varsity boys basketball teams were playing. All of the players from the Little Warriors youth basketball program got a chance to come down to the floor and help with starting lineups.
Rhett was hanging with his friends after the high school boys entered the gym. That's when Rhett called Christine on his TickTalk 5 smart watch for kids. The TickTalk 5 watch has its own phone number and cell plan. It is all set up from a parent's phone and has tracking abilities on the TickTalk app.
Christine said Rhett just called to tell her he was having fun at the game and the big kids gave him high fives. Christine, who was home with her sick daughter that night, was thinking about how sweet it was and just enjoyed hearing his excitement telling her about the game.
Rhett then said to his friends he was sitting by "Guys, say hi. It's my mom."
"That’s when my heart exploded," Christine said. "I couldn’t stop the tears. It just made me so proud of him. That he decided to call me in the middle of his excitement. I can only hope he always wants to call me first for his exciting moments and that’s why that call felt like the ending of a Hallmark movie. I smile so big thinking about that call even weeks later."
She posted the video on Jan. 3. By midday Jan. 4, it had reached 1 million views by noon and 2 million views by 8 p.m. On Jan. 14, the video had 6 million views and 1 million likes. It currently has 6.6 million views and 1.2 million likes.
A friend called Christine on Jan. 4 and told her the video was going viral.
"I was shocked," Christine said. "I started sweating and getting overcome with emotion again, because the video was a really special moment. Then reading the comment section, there’s absolutely no way to hold it together, especially for mamas."
Cougars bowling claims third place at the IHSA State Competition
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- Written by: Jeremy Chawgo - Breese Journal Sports Editor
Trophy time — The Central Community High School bowling team ended their record-breaking season in style with the Third-Place State trophy. The Cougars not only broke several school records, they also made it to the State Tournament for the first time in school history before bringing home the trophy. Pictured in the front row from left are Cooper Martin, Benny Lehman, Jacson Deiters and Brenden Phillips. In the back row is coach Chris Martin, Chasse Wuebbels, Blake Monken, Hudson Dulle, Blake Horstmann and coach Ben Hubler. PHOTO BY JEREMY CHAWGO It was unchartered waters for the Central High School bowling team all season long, and they rode that momentum all season to a State Tournament, third-place trophy in O’Fallon over the weekend.
The Cougars etch their name in the record books in the IHSA with several top-10 series and game records.
They began their postseason run on Jan. 18 when they claimed fourth at the Salem Regional where they knocked down 5,912 pins behind Mascoutah, Mt. Vernon and Salem.
Central did the same at the Camelot Bowl in the Collinsville Sectional as they placed fourth with 6,224 pins, behind Harrisburg, Salem and O’Fallon.
They made the quick trip to the State Tournament at the St. Clair Bowl in O’Fallon. Bowling has only one classification from all IHSA schools with the event starting on Friday with 12 teams advancing to the finals on Saturday.
The Cougars started in last place on Friday with their score of 867 where they were led by freshman Cooper Martin with a 202.
“That’s the thing about bowling, one bad game doesn’t sink you,” said Central head coach Ben Hubler. “But a second bad game can really hurt you, give our guys credit for regrouping and staying focused.”Cooper Martin The Cougars placed four of their five over 200 in the second game with freshman Jacson Deiters leading the way with a 224 and both Blake Horstmann and Blake Monken knocking down 213 pins.
Martin went back to work in the third game where he paced the Cougars with a 257 followed by a 227 from Deiters as they rolled a 994 and ended the first session at 2,901 which was 22nd out of the 24 qualifiers.
The Cougars came out inspired in the afternoon session with 11 of their 15 games being at least 200 pins.
Horstmann sparked the Cougars in the opening game with a 269, closely followed by Martin with a 253 and Deiters with a 227 for a 1,056 game.
They continued their climb up the standings with a 1,040 in game two where they were paced by senior Benny Lehman with a 246 and Monken with a 207.
Central perched themselves in 10th place after their third-and-final game where they knocked down 991 pins with the aid of a 227 for Lehman.
The first day saw Martin hit a 1,285 followed by a 1,230 from Deiters and a 1,218 from Horstmann.
The Cougars continued to climb up the standings after each game on Saturday with their lowest round being the sixth game with a 998.
“We managed to climb our way back to 10th place on Friday, and I think that really motivated the guys to keep pushing,” added Hubler. “We just steadily climbed all day today and I can’t say enough about how hard this group worked all season to get to this point. Chris (Martin) and I are so proud of this group.”Blake Monken The Cougars started Saturday with a 1,030 with Monken hitting a 256 and Horstmann knocking down 244 pins.
They followed that with their best effort of the day in game two with a 1,037 that was paced by the best score of the weekend, a 279 from Deiters and a 249 from Monken. Martin knocked down 232 pins.
The third game of the morning session saw the Cougars knock down 1,028 pins where they were led by Monken with a 236 and Horstmann with a 215. They were sitting in fifth place entering the afternoon session.
They climbed to fourth place after the fourth game of the day where the Cougars knocked down 1,048 pins with four 200 games, including a 232 from Horstmann and a 224 from Deiters.
The Cougars climbed to third place after their fifth game of the day with a 1,035 with Horstmann knocking down 257 pins and Lehman hitting 219 pins.
They stayed secured in third place with their 998 series in the final game with Deiters hitting a 243 and Lehman hitting a 202.
Central claimed third in all classes with their 12,258 pins, trailing just behind State Champ Harrisburg’s 13,177 and runner-up Machesney Park’s 12,488 pins.
Horstmann paced the Cougars on the weekend with 2,560 pins while Deiters knocked down 2.545 pins followed by 2,432 from Monken, 2,422 from Martin and 2,299 from Lehman.
For the weekend in 60-bowled games, the Cougars averaged 204.3 pins while Harrisburg averaged 219.6 pins and Machesney Park averaged 208.1 pins.
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