TEUTOPOLIS – On Saturday at 10:23 a.m., a call came into the Effingham Sheriff’s office about someone breaking into a Teutopolis apartment.
The call came from the residents, who were awakened by the noise. As they evacuated out the apartment’s front door, the man entered the back door, authorities said.
Because the second-story apartment shares a balcony with its neighbor apartment, the Effingham City Police and Illinois State Police that first showed up on the scene didn’t know which apartment Jon Matthew Dust, the alleged intruder, was in. Since the doors were locked, the officers tried to call out to Dust with no response.
When Effingham County Sheriff Paul Kuhns arrived on the scene, the apartment building had been evacuated. Officers had set up a perimeter around it and were watching for any movement inside, the sheriff said.
The situation was a matter of maintaining the perimeter, watching it and trying to communicate with Dust, said Kuhns.
A neighbor told Kuhns that Dust had a mental health crisis or an emotional crisis on Friday night.
“He told one of the neighbors that he was going to harm himself, and he did have a gun. So that added to the officers’ apprehension of what was going on or how to deal with them when he wouldn’t comply or recognize their presence,” said Kuhns. “They were calling out to him, but he wouldn’t say anything. We tried several times to contact him by phone and by telling through the door, and we finally attempted to make entry into the apartment.”
Because the officers were unable to make contact with Dust, they forced their way into the building and arrested Dust.
Dust has been charged with criminal trespassing in a residence – a class 4 felony.
Dust was released on Monday afternoon with pre-trial conditions, and he is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 2.