CARRIE KILMAN Two arrested following road rage incident

LOVES PARK – On Monday, Sept. 7, at about 9:15 p.m., a Loves Park officer stopped a motorist after observing the vehicle go through a red light on E. Riverside Blvd. at N. Second St.

The driver of the vehicle, Joseph A. Palumbo, 30, of Rockford, told the officer that he ran the light and was speeding because an occupant of another vehicle had pointed a gun at him.

While on the traffic stop, a second vehicle parked nearby. The occupants of the second vehicle reported to the officer that they had been in a verbal confrontation with the occupants of the stopped vehicle, near 1000 Riverside Blvd., which started at Riverside and Alpine. They reported that Palumbo became irritated that they did not start moving quick enough after a red light turned green.

During part of the confrontation, both vehicles were stopped next to each other in the roadway, when it was alleged that a passenger of the vehicle stopped by the officer, Carrie J. Kilman, 28, of Belvidere, exited Palumbo’s vehicle and approached the second vehicle.

Once at the passenger door of the second vehicle, they alleged, Kilman opened the passenger door and sprayed the occupants with pepper spray.

One of the occupants of the second vehicle exited the car with a baseball bat. Kilman got back into Palumbo’s vehicle, and Palumbo drove westbound until stopped by the officer for the red light violation.

The second vehicle and occupants were searched, but no gun was found.

Palumbo misidentified Kilman, telling the officers she was his girlfriend, but gave them a false name and birth date for her. Officers discovered that Kilman was wanted on two Boone County warrants.

Kilman was charged with Aggravated Battery and Obstructing Identification, after it was discovered that the officer was trying to lodge her in jail under a stepsister’s name. She was also served the two Boone County warrants.

Palumbo was cited for No Child Restraint for a child who was present in the vehicle.

The charges are merely allegations, and the defendants are considered innocent, unless proven guilty in a court of law.