CARLYLE, Ill. — Illinois State Police (ISP) say a Kentucky man suspected in the killing of a Wayne County, Illinois, sheriff’s deputy Wednesday morning hijacked a Dayton Freight semi-truck shortly afterward and told the driver to take him to Missouri.
An ISP SWAT team arrested Ray Tate, 40, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, on Wednesday afternoon at a home in Carlyle, Illinois, where he allegedly committed a home invasion and took the homeowner and a carjacking victim hostage, the ISP said.
Police said Tate, after forcing the trucker to take him to a QuickTrip convenience store in St. Peters, Missouri, made his way back to Illinois a short time later in one or more carjacked vehicles.
Tate was charged with murder by the Wayne County State’s Attorney and lodged in the Clinton County Jail.
The trucker, carjacking victims and the homeowner were not injured, the ISP said.
The Wayne County, Illinois, Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that Deputy Sean Riley responded to a motorist assist call on Interstate 64 near Mill Shoals around 5 a.m. Wednesday. A second officer who arrived at the scene found Riley dead. The deputy’s squad car was later found abandoned on I-64.
The ISP said they believe Tate hijacked the semi-truck after abandoning the deputy’s car.
“On behalf of the Illinois State Police, I extend my heartfelt condolences to Wayne County Deputy Sean Riley’s family, friends, and brothers and sisters at the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office,” ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly said in the statement.
Riley’s body was escorted by multiple Illinois law enforcement agencies to the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s office at around 10 a.m., according to 14 News in Evansville. Another escort transported him back to Illinois just after 2:30 p.m.
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