Windsor Man Arrested for Car Theft, Burglary in Mattoon

A Windsor man has been arrested in connection with a vehicle theft and burglary, as well as a police pursuit.

34-year-old Brenton P. Gossard was arrested just after 9am Wednesday by Mattoon City Police. Gossard was arrested in Cooks Mills after a car chase through Mattoon and rural Coles County. Gossard was wanted on Coles County warrants charging assault as well as possession of a stolen motor vehicle. He was also charged with aggravated fleeing and attempting to elude police. Gossard was also wanted for questioning in regards to a residential burglary in Cumberland County last week in which an AR-15 assault rifle and a hunting rifle were reportedly stolen.

Mattoon police had been in search of Gossard due to his alleged theft of a motor vehicle in Mattoon in early October. Although aware that police were in search of him with an active warrant, Gossard parked a used car on Broadway Avenue in Mattoon, blocks from the police station, and advertised it for sale via social media. He remained with the car. A police officer arrived to investigate the matter and Gossard fled in a SUV. Numerous police units from Mattoon, Coles County Sheriff's Department, and the East Central Illinois Drug Task Force were eventually in pursuing Gossard. The chase led officers through numerous farm fields and country roads north of Mattoon. The pursuit ended when a police squad car used its push bumper to engage Gossard's fleeing vehicle and pin it against a large tree within the village of Cooks Mills. Gossard was then removed from the SUV via the driver's side window and placed into custody.

A Mattoon police squad car was damaged as a result of the incident. No one was injured.

Gossard was taken to Coles County Jail where he is being held on $150,000 bond and an evaluation for substance abuse.