DEREK TRAVELSTEAD
SALINE CO.— An Eldorado convicted felon with a history of violence has been charged with a domestic.
According to information filed in the case, on May 10, at 11:07 p.m. Eldorado Police Officer Jerod Gott responded to a call to 601 Madison St., Eldorado, in reference to a disturbance inside a residence.
Upon arrival Gott spoke with Shelly L. Combs, 46.
While talking to Combs, Gott could hear a male hitting a door in a room in the back of the residence and cursing and yelling loudly.
Combs advised the man was her boyfriend and identified him as Derek R. Travelstead, 31, of 601 Madison St., Eldorado.
Gott said that Travelstead came out of the back room, smelling of alcohol and in an aggressive stance and was quickly advised that he was being detained (in handcuffs) until Gott could figure out what was going on.
Despite pulling away from Gott, Travelstead was placed in handcuffs.
As Gott was escorting Travelstead from the back of the residence, Travelstead lunged at Combs’ son, Brandon S. Pickering, 23, pulling away from officer Gott and cursing.
Travelstead was ultimately locked inside a police cruiser while Gott spoke with Combs and Pickering.
Pickering advised that Travelstead was very intoxicated and that he had been cursing his mother and breaking things inside the house.
He said that when he asked Travelstead to stop and to leave and calm down, he turned his anger toward him.
Pickering said that his mother stepped between them and that’s when Travelstead swung several punches over her head in an attempt to hit him, punched Combs out of the way and the two men wrestled on the floor until Gott arrived.
Combs reported that Travelstead always acted violently when he got drunk.
Neither Picking nor his mother wanted to file charges.
Travelstead was transported to the county detention center where he was booked on a formal charge of Domestic Battery.
Travelstead’s criminal history includes a March 14, 2006 conviction for Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol for which he was sentenced to probation for 12 months and ordered to attend DUI school and to for over $418 in fines and fees, of which he still owes $195.
Convicted December 18, 2007 of one count of Battery for which he was sentenced to 182 days in the county jail, probation for seven months and ordered to pay $300 in fines and fees.
On August 20, 2011 Travelstead was arrested and charged with Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse, Domestic Battery and Battery.
After being found guilty on the domestic charge, the remainder of the charges were dismissed and he was sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections for two and a half years and ordered to pay $826.54 in fines and fees, of which he hasn’t bothered to pay anything.
Pickering’s criminal history includes a March 22, 2016 conviction for Battery for which he was sentenced to court supervision for 90 days and ordered to pay $550 in fines and fees.
At the time of the incident Pickering was free on a $1,000 cash bond in a December 2016 case in which he is charged with Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.
Cash bond in the case was set at $1,000.