A 25-year-old Carlyle man who allegedly wrestled a gun away from a Clinton County Correctional Officer and discharged it twice in the emergency room at St. Joseph's Hospital in Breese last November now faces criminal charges in connection with the incident. Dennis Parker has been charged with aggravated battery, aggravated discharge of a firearm, and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. Parker is accused of aggravated battery for striking Correctional Officer Kenneth McElroy when trying to disarm him. The aggravated discharge count accuses Parker of firing the gun at McElroy and Correctional Officer Miranda Waggoner. Parker was in custody on a parole hold and a warrant for failure to show up in the Clinton County Jail to serve time on a traffic conviction when he was taken to the hospital for treatment of a head injury. No one was injured in the incident and the officer eventually regained control of his gun. He has since been sent back to the Illinois Department of Corrections for the parole violation. - http://goo.gl/4YjwA
