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.
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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."