On Thursday, September 15, 2016, at 06:13, the Palo Alto County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint to the Five Island Lake dam in the 3500 block of North Huron Street in reference to a motor vehicle accident. Following an investigation, the Palo Alto County Sheriff’s Office deteremined that Richard Engelhart, 20, of Nokomis, Illinois was driving his 1999 Chevrolet 1500 southbound on the gravel drive parallel to North Huron. While driving south toward the dam, Engelhart began to deliberately swerve back and forth, causing his truck to lose control and enter the grass between the gravel drive and North Huron. While attempting to drive the truck back onto the gravel drive, Engelhart drove his truck into the dam on the east side of the bridge.
Engelhart’s truck sustained an estimated $5,000 damage. No injuries were reported in the accident.
The Palo Alto County Sheriff’s Office cited Richard Engelhart for reckless driving= simple misdemeanor.
A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.