On June 19, the Carmi Police Department became aware of several purchases that had been made by Keaton Bradshaw while being employed as foreman of the City of Carmi Light Plant. The purchases were brought to the attention of the city administrators by the city’s auditing firm. These purchases involved several items over the past six months that had been made using the city’s Amazon account with a City of Carmi credit card. Several of the purchases had allegedly been sent directly to Bradshaw’s residence and included sprayers, drills, camera system and table saw components, among several other items. The city began looking into the purchases to verify whether the items had been approved.
On June 21, City of Carmi officials signed a complaint for Theft of Government Supported Property over $500. The Carmi Police Department began the investigation into the thefts at that time. During the course of the investigation, it was found that Bradshaw was, in fact, in possession of numerous items, including a camera system that was currently installed on the Bradshaw home, that had been purchased using the Amazon account and credit card. Bradshaw began bringing the items back to the Light Plant upon being investigated. Upon completion of the investigation, the Carmi Police provided the report and evidence to White County State’s Attorney, Denton Aud. After reviewing the case, State Attorney Aud asked for a special prosecutor to be appointed to the case due to various conflicts. The case was then referred to the Illinois Appellate Prosecutor’s Office with a special prosecutor being assigned to the case.
On August 1, information was prepared by the special prosecutor with charges being filed against Bradshaw. A felony arrest warrant was filed in White County Court for the arrest of Keaton Bradshaw with the charge being Theft Over $500 but Less Than $10,000. Bradshaw turned himself in to the White County Sheriff’s Department that day and later bonded out of jail on $2,000 cash bond.
Reported by Jason Carter, Carmi Chief of Police
