A public memorial service is planned for a Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputy killed in the line of duty.
Deputy Nicholas D. “Nick” Weist, 34, of Viola, died in rural Henry County on Friday, April 29, during a car chase that started in Galesburg.
Weist was setting spike strips at U.S. Route 150 and 150th Avenue south of Alpha when he was struck by the suspect’s vehicle.
He died at the scene, according to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.
Weist had two children with his wife, Jessica.
Prior to joining the Knox County Sheriff’s Office in 2018, he worked for the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department and the Aledo Police Department.
He graduated in 2009 with a degree in law enforcement and justice administration from Western Illinois University.
He wanted to be a law enforcement officer from a young age, according to his obituary.
The public service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 7, at Galesburg High School.
A first-responder walk-through is planned for the beginning of the service.
The line-up for the walk-through begins at 1 p.m.
The car chase began with a 911 call about a man with a gun at a Galesburg gas station around 8 a.m.
Galesburg police attempted a traffic stop, but the suspect fled north on U.S. Route 150 and traveled approximately 15 miles before being stopped south of Alpha.
Now members of the Alpha community are hanging blue ribbons along U.S. Route 150 in honor of Weist.
“We can’t imagine what could have happened if Knox County Deputy Weist had not stopped the perpetrator just as school was about to start,” a village official wrote in a Facebook post.
Daylon Richardson, 22, of Granite City is being held without bond in the Henry County jail on murder charges in Weist’s death.
