Arrest made in blow dart attacks
<p align="center">Police have arrested the person - reportedly a juvenile - believed responsible for a pair of blow dart attacks last week.
<p align="justify">
<p align="justify">The suspect was arrested Wednesday on charges of aggravated battery and unlawful use of a weapon. Morton Police Chief Nick Graff would not release any information on the person's name or age, citing the ongoing investigation.
<p align="justify">
<p align="justify">Others may be involved and more arrests may follow, he added.
<p align="justify">
<p align="justify">Village residents can feel safe again on the streets, Graff said. "People in town were afraid of walking."
<p align="justify">
<p align="justify">Police recovered the blowgun used in the attacks, along with additional blow darts. They already had the 4-inch blow darts that injured the victims.
<p align="justify">
<p align="justify">It wasn't revealed where or how the suspect obtained the blowgun.
<p align="justify">
<p align="justify">Tracy Vanderheydt, mother of 12-year-old victim Lakin Vanderheydt, said she learned from Morton police Wednesday that a juvenile had been arrested in connection with the attacks.
<p align="justify">
<p align="justify">A blow dart went through the ring finger on the girl's left hand while she was walking at Illinois and Monroe streets, near the Morton High School softball diamond, about 6:30 p.m. Oct. 4.
<p align="justify">
<p align="justify">Lakin Vanderheydt is a seventh-grader at Morton Junior High School. She had just attended the high school's homecoming parade on Jefferson Street and was on her way to a pep rally with four older youths when the blow dart pierced her finger.
<p align="justify">
<p align="justify">About fifteen minutes later, a 24-year-old woman was struck in the rear end by a blow dart at Second and Idlewood streets, more than a mile away from the site of the first attack.
<p align="justify">
<p align="justify">Neither victim was hospitalized, but both needed medical treatment.
<p align="justify">
<p align="justify">"I'm happy there was an arrest, but I'm also happy that this person knows that people were hurt by this prank," Lakin Vanderheydt said. "There was no reason to do that."
<p align="justify">
<p align="justify">"Thank God nobody was injured seriously," added Tracy Vanderheydt.
<p align="justify">
<p align="justify">Blowguns and blow darts are sold on the Internet, but it is unclear whether they are carried locally. Neither Gander Mountain sporting goods store nor Dunham's Discount Sports, both in Peoria, carry them. Presley's Outdoors in Bartonville doesn't, either.
<p align="justify">
<p align="justify">"We haven't sold blowguns for about 25 years, and I don't know of anybody in the area who sells them," said Presley's owner Tim Presley.
<p align="justify">
<p align="justify">He said blowguns were taken off his store's shelves at the request of area police agencies after they were used illegally on a couple of occasions.
<p align="justify">
<p align="justify">"You don't need a license to own a blowgun unless you use it for hunting," Presley said. "These days, they're used mostly for sport, similar to throwing darts."
<p align="center">
<p align="center">Steve Stein can be reached at (309) 686-3114 or news@pjstar.com.