A former Wabash County Sheriff’s Deputy faces eight criminal charges including five Class 3 felonies. 29-year-old Chase Cheadle was the sheriff’s department’s K-9 officers and the charges filed by special prosecutor Brian Towne are related to Canine Kiki this summer.

Sheriff Derek Morgan said that on July 14th Cheadle found Kiki unresponsive. According to Morgan, Deputy Kiki had served with the sheriff’s department since September of 2022 and was an invaluable asset and partner to Wabash County. He said her death was a significant loss to the sheriff’s office.

Cheadle faces four charges of official misconduct in that he allegedly placed Kiki in a life-threatening situation for a prolonged period of time in extreme heat that resulted in her death. It’s also alleged that Cheadle did not provide Kiki with adequate shelter and protection from the weather and failed to provide humane care and treatment. The fourth misconduct charge alleges Cheadle that he committed theft in excess of $500 by deceptively obtaining control of compensatory time compensation from Wabash County. The felony theft charge is in connection to submitted payroll amounts for dates he represented he earned comp time for care and maintenance, including the keeping of records, for Kiki, when he did not complete the records nor care for and maintain Kiki.

Other charges against Cheadle include misdemeanor counts of cruel treatment and two counts of owner’s duties for allegedly placing Kiki in a life-threatening situation for a prolonged period of time in extreme heat that resulted in her death. The owner’s duties charges are also related to not providing Kiki adequate shelter and protection from the weather and failing to provide humane care and treatment.

In a joint statement, Morgan and Wabash County State’s Attorney Kelli Storckman said Cheadle resigned from the sheriff’s department on August 8th during the investigation.

Cheadle made his first appearance this morning in Wabash County Circuit Court and waived first advisement. A preliminary hearing in the case was set for November 14th. A Class 3 felony in Illinois carries a possible 2 to 5 years in prison and fines up to $25,000. Probation is also possible.

Full Text Of Joint Statement from Wabash County Sheriff J. Derek Morgan and Wabash County State’s Attorney Kelli Storckman regarding the investigation into the death of Wabash County’s K9:

“K-9 Kiki was found deceased on 07.14.24. On that same day, the Wabash County Sheriff requested the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) to do an independent investigation into the death of our canine KiKi to avoid any appearance of bias. At that time, Deputy Chase Cheadle was placed on paid administrative leave for the duration of the investigation.

The investigation conducted by the LCSO was presented to the Sheriff and the Wabash County State’s Attorney. Information obtained in the investigation led the Wabash County State’s Attorney’s Office to contact the State of Illinois State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor’s Office on 07.28.24 for further review. Cheadle resigned his position as Deputy Sheriff on August 8th, 2024 while the review was ongoing.

The Appellate Prosecutor reviewed the report and has now filed formal charges in this case. Charges filed in this case are:

4 counts of Official Misconduct (class 3 felony), 1 count of Theft/Deception/>$500<10k (class 3 felony), 1 count of Cruelty to animals (class A misdemeanor), 2 counts of Animal owner duties (class B misdemeanor).

Thank you for your patience during this time. We remain dedicated to serving the interests of our community.”