Lee County sheriff: IDOC parolee on the lam arrested in Dixon in stolen vehicle

DIXON – An Earlville man wanted for absconding from his parole on a three-year sentence for driving under the influence out of DeKalb County – and who also has a pending felony DUI case in Lee County – was arrested Sunday in Dixon in a stolen vehicle after attacking an officer, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Monday.

Few details were available Monday because officers involved were off for the Presidents’ Day holiday. In addition to the news release, some information was available, however, in court and Illinois Department of Corrections records.

William C. Whitford, 31, was arrested about 10:30 p.m. Sunday by Dixon police after Lee County sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a vehicle stolen in the 200 block of Route 2 in Riverside Estates and put out a description.

Whitford is charged with possession of a controlled substance, punishable by four to 15 years in prison; possession of a stolen vehicle and aggravated battery to a police officer (he is accused of kicking an officer), each punishable by three to seven years; resisting arrest, which carries one to three years; and trespass to a vehicle and driving on a revoked license, both misdemeanors.

He also has a warrant for failure to appear on a parole violation for the aggravated DUI, sixth or more charge, which carries six to 30 years in prison.

Additionally, Whitford faces another charge of driving on a revoked license. Because it is his second, he could face one to four years in prison if convicted.

That case was filed Dec. 28 in Lee County after his arrest by Amboy police.

Whitford remains in custody at the Lee County jail pending a detention hearing. He’s set to appear in front of a judge Feb. 21.

Whitford was paroled July 28 from the Big Muddy Correctional Center in Ina, in Jefferson County, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections’ individuals in custody website, where he also is designated as an absconder.

He was admitted to Big Muddy on Dec. 1, 2021, after being sentenced to two three-year concurrent terms for back-to-back DUIs committed in DeKalb County in early 2019.

In one of the DUI cases, Whitford, then of Lisle, was speeding when he rolled his car and told police, falsely, that he was carjacked.

He also has two convictions in Kendall County in 2013, where he was sentenced to four years each for attempted robbery and aggravated battery in a public place, and one in Will County in 2012, where he was sentenced to eight years for armed robbery without a firearm.