A Galesburg man sits in the Knox County Jail on $500,000 bond for allegedly holding two women at gunpoint.
40-year-old Tavarse L. Buckley made a video appearance in Knox County Circuit Court on Tuesday afternoon where Judge Curtis Lane set bond and appointed the public defender’s office to represent him.
He is facing a number of weapons and battery charges. The most severe felonies are Class two charges of Possession/Use of a Firearm By a Felon With a Prior and Forcible Detention While Armed.
Other charges include Class 3 felonies of Aggravated Unlawful Restraint and Aggravated Battery, Class 4 charge of Aggravated Assault, and misdemeanor charges of Domestic Battery and Interference With Reporting Domestic Violence.
According to a Galesburg Police report, officers were called out to the area of Holton and Thompkins streets in reference to a disturbance at 3:24 Tuesday morning. Dispatch advised that a male was chasing a nude female.
Officers made contact with a 32-year-old woman who was in a hysterical state. She would eventually tell police that Buckley held her and a 19-year-old female at gunpoint and threatened to kill them.
The report says that she told police that Buckley had gone into a rage regarding text messages on her phone. She said he struck her in the face at least 10-20 times.
He presented a gun and threatened to kill her and the other woman, going as far as to hold a pillow up to the head of the 19-year-old and point the gun at it.
The 32-year-old woman told officers she jumped from her bedroom window, on the second story, injuring herself in the fall. She said she feared for her life but tried to get help.
She told police her residence was in the 600-block of West South Street. There, officers and Knox County Sheriff’s Deputies arrived and made a perimeter. At around 4:16, officers entered the home where they found Buckley and arrested him without incident.
A search of the residence led to the discovery of a loaded 9mm handgun.
The 32-year-old woman was taken to Cottage Emergency Room to have her injuries treated.
In addition to the bond set Thursday afternoon, a no-contact order was issued to Buckley for the two women.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Monday, October 7.
