CARMI, IL — A Carmi city employee is facing a theft charge after the Carmi Police Department was made aware on June 19 of this year about several purchases that had been made by the foreman of the City of Carmi’s Light Plant.

Carmi Police Chief Jason Carter says the purchases Keaton Bradshaw allegedly made were brought to the attention of 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 credit card. Several of the purchases had allegedly been sent directly to Bradshaw’s home and included sprayers, drills, camera systems and table saw components among several other items. The city began looking into the purchases to verify whether the items had been approved.

Then on June 21, city officials signed a complaint for theft of government supported property over $500. Carmi Police began their investigation and found the Bradshaw did possess numerous city items including the camera system that was installed on his home that was bought using the city’s Amazon account and credit card. He began bringing the items back to the light plant upon being investigated.

After finishing their investigation, Carmi Police provided a report to White County State’s Attorney Denton Aud. Aud reviewed the report and asked for a special prosecutor to be appointed to the case due to various conflicts. The case was referred to the Illinois Appellate Prosecutors Office with a special prosecutor being assigned to the case.

On Thursday, information was prepared by the special prosecutor with charges being filed against Bradshaw.  A felony arrest warrant was filed Friday in White County Court for Bradshaw’s arrest with the charge being theft over $500 but less than $10,000.

Bradshaw turned himself in to the White County Sheriff’s Department shortly after noon Friday. He later bonded out of jail on a $2,000 cash bond.