SALINE CO.— A violent Harrisburg crim has been charged with a pair of felonies following a fight outside one of Harrisburg’s eateries.
According to information filed in the case, at approximately 5:17 p.m., on January 23, Harrisburg Assistant Chief of Police Todd Cavender responded to a report of a fight in progress at Morello’s, located at 217 East Poplar St., Harrisburg.
When Cavender arrived on the west side of the building he spotted Marshall Ralph Lane, Jr., 42, of 328 West South St., Harrisburg, staggering around and bleeding from his face.
Nearby witnesses pointed to another man lying next to 10 Cherry Street and not moving.
The witnesses told Cavender that Lane had been beating the man’s head on the ground.
Cavender then placed Lane in handcuffs and attempted to get him to take a seat in his squad car but Lane refused.
And that’s about the time he was placed in the back of the cruiser.
The other guy
The man on the ground was identified as Rick A. Allen, 61, of 609 South Ledford St., Harrisburg.
When Cavender went to check on Allen he spotted a knife clip on the outside of his right pocket and so he removed the knife and put it in his pocket for everyone’s safety.
Allen was having a difficult time speaking and was not moving.
Officer Kenny Shires arrived on scene and began gathering witnesses and tending to the injured man while Cavender transported Lane to the county detention center.
Because Lane was uncooperative once he arrived at the jail, Cavender suggested he be placed in a restraint chair until he calmed down.
That didn’t seem to go over very well with Lane because he not only fought with Cavender and corrections officers Brandon Pate and Alexis Brazell, but he went on to tell Cavender that he was going to kill him, his children and the rest of his family.
Once Lane was secure in the restraint chair he was wheeled into the detention area and charged with Aggravated Intimidation of a Peace Officer and Aggravated Battery in a Public Place.
Meanwhile, back at the scene
With Lane secure, Cavender returned to the scene to find Allen standing in front of officer Shires’ squad car.
Allen refused medical attention and when Cavender asked what had happened he said that he fell down.
However, witnesses on the scene informed officers that Allen had been fighting with Lane.
Allen was taken into custody on preliminary charges of Disorderly Conduct, Obstruction of Justice and Unlawful Use of a Weapon and transported to the detention center by Shires.
Sometime later Cavender remembered that he had the knife he had removed from Allen in his pocket and when he looked at it, he noticed a silver button.
When he pushed the button the blade sprang out of the handle.
Allen was formally charged with one count of Felon in Possession/Use of a Weapon for the alleged switchblade.
He was released from police custody January 25, after a $1,000 cash bond was posted on his behalf by Sarah Newman, of 1550 Airshaft Rd., Eldorado.
Allen has one pending case in Saline County from July 4, 2015, in which he is charged with Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and DUI with a Breath Alcohol Content Greater than .08.
Lane violent history
Lane has more than a dozen arrests for one violent act or another but has only been convicted on a handful, including a conviction November 6, 1998 of Domestic Battery and Resisting a Peace Officer, for which he was sentenced to 16 days in the county jail, probation for 18 months and ordered to pay $2,005 in fines and fees.
He was convicted again May 18, 2004 of two counts of Driving Revoked and one count of Domestic Battery and sentenced to 60 days in the county jail, probation for two years and ordered to pay $2,500 in fines and fees.
On an April 21, 2005 probation violation he earned himself a sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) of three years.
And then on May 4, 2012 he was sent back to IDOC on a sentence of four years after he was convicted of Aggravated Battery on an Officer.
He still owes $14.30 in fines and fees from that case.
Cash bond in Lane’s case was set at $1,000.