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Illinois police officer shot, suspect still at large

DECATUR, Ill. (AP) – Police in a central Illinois village are searching for a 34-year-old suspect in a weekend shooting of a police officer.

The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports that an unnamed Mahomet officer was shot Saturday night outside a home. Mahomet Police Chief Mike Metzler says the officer is recovering after being released from a local hospital Sunday morning.

Metzler told the newspaper that the officer was shot after a traffic stop initiated by a different police officer. The suspect then got into a fight with the second officer, who reportedly attempted to use a stun gun on the driver.

A Champaign County judge on Sunday issued an arrest warrant for Dracy “Clint” Pendleton, accusing him of aggravated battery with a firearm. Authorities say Pendleton fled the area in a stolen pickup truck.

A fatal collision between an Illinois state trooper and a 26-year-old woman has been linked to a police pursuit of a suspect in an officer’s shooting earlier that night.

Master Sgt. Matthew Boerwinkle of the Illinois State Police tells The (Champaign) News-Gazette that the trooper was responding to a call about the Mahomet officer’s shooting late Saturday when his patrol car struck a van in Decatur.

The trooper had activated his flashing lights and siren.

Authorities hadn’t yet released the names of the 53-year-old trooper or the crash victim by Sunday afternoon. Both were taken to a local hospital, where the woman was pronounced dead.

Dracy Pendleton has been charged in the Champaign area shooting in which the officer was wounded in the arm. He remained at large Sunday.

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