Inside the traffic stop that landed 3 Collinsville teen immigrants in ICE custody
A new trove of records obtained by St. Louis Public Radio reveal the minute-by-minute breakdowns of a June 9 traffic stop that landed three immigrant teenagers from Collinsville in deportation proceedings and for the youngest, put in federal custody and transported to Texas.
Jesus Alexis Cruz, 16, and 19-year-olds Hector Cruz-Sanchez, originally of Mexico, and Gabriel Yonathan Gonzalez Godoy, originally of Honduras, were driving to a job installing internet fiber wiring when they were pulled over around 8 a.m. along Illinois Route 48.
A license plate reader had flagged their work truck’s plate for having an expired registration, according to a police report that was provided to STLPR as part of a public records request along with dozens of documents, videos and audio recordings.
Morrisonville officials released nearly 60 edited radio traffic audio clips from the Christian County Sheriff’s Office, saying redactions were made to “protect personal information.”
Morrisonville released two police videos: one dash camera facing the road and another showing the back seat of a squad car. The village denied providing body camera footage, saying that the officers made no arrests and that the teenagers had an expectation of privacy, according to a response letter from Village Clerk Corrine Coghlan.
Illinois law requires any body camera recording to be kept for two years if it is flagged, including when an officer is being investigated for misconduct or an encounter ended in a detention or arrest. The law excludes traffic stops resulting in a minor traffic offense and general members of the public who aren’t in the recordings cannot request unflagged footage through public records requests.
Additionally, the clerk said that Morrisonville police have no written or recorded communications about the stop beyond the official police report and provided recordings.
The stop
Morrisonville Police Chief Robert Aten pulled the trio over just outside Morrisonville, a town of around 1,000 people in Christian County, which is about 45 miles outside of Illinois’ capital. Fewer than 40 residents identify as Hispanic in the community, according to the U.S. Census’ 2024 American Community Survey five-year estimates.
“I then became aware that the driver and all occupants spoke very little English,” wrote Aten in his report. “Using Google Translate, I again explained the reason for the stop and requested the driver’s license or identification.”
It is unclear which of the teens was driving the vehicle because police records describing that information were redacted. The driver provided a passport, but no one in the car had a valid driver’s license, according to the chief.
So Aten impounded the white 2018 GMC 3500HD and had it towed by Taylorville-based Kertow Auto Salvage, along with a trailer holding a large spool of fiber wire. A worker for the tow company declined to say if the company still had the vehicle, what it does with impounded vehicles when ICE is later involved, or if the truck was accumulating tow fees.
Aten and Christian County Sheriff Sgt. Robert Goebel drove the three teens to a nearby Casey’s gas station to wait for their boss, according to the chief’s report. It is unclear whom the teens were working for.
Interior police car camera footage obtained by STLPR shows one of the teens wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and a Jeff Gordon T-shirt throwing some belongings into the trunk of the police vehicle and shuffling in with a tote of clothes, including a blue and white Nike sneaker and safety vests. A second teen climbs into the squad car wearing jeans, a black puffer jacket and a Mexico hat. The third, wearing khakis and a neon yellow hoodie, holding the other shoe.
A large portion of audio from an interior camera showing the teens being taken to the gas station was removed by police without explanation.
When asked about the edits in a Friday phone call, Coghlan said Aten and the Christian County Sheriff’s Office were the ones who redacted or removed anything they believed to be an invasion of personal privacy or included conversation unrelated to the teens’ arrest.
Exterior dash cam footage shows officers speaking to the teens after dropping them off at Casey’s. A man in a plaid shirt, jeans and black glasses walks by and waves at the officers before stopping and looking at the interactions until law enforcement waves him off.
The chief ultimately told the trio they couldn’t operate a motor vehicle without a driver’s license and gave a verbal warning before leaving the gas station. Illinois has allowed people without legal status to obtain driver’s licenses if they meet certain requirements since 2024.
“I said I’m not writing you a ticket, but no more driving. You got to get a driver’s license. ‘Oh, OK. Thank you...’ Then the English comes out,” Aten said, chuckling while telling Goebel over the phone as he drove away from the gas station. Goebel responds, “Yeah, that English comes out, those motherf-------.”
The video cuts off mid-sentence as Goebel is speaking. Christian County Sheriff Bruce Kettelkamp said Aten turned off the video because no law enforcement activity was being done at that point.
Aten and Morrisonville Mayor Larry Toliver did not respond to a request for comment.
Kettelkamp dismissed concerns about the language used, saying it was banter between law enforcement officials who regularly deal with the challenges of interacting with “not the most honest people.”
“This happens quite a bit with us,” the sheriff said regarding the exchange about the teens speaking a few English phrases after telling officers they didn’t speak English. “People aren’t always truthful to us.”
Kettelkamp told STLPR that no one at his office would call ICE because it would be against state law. If they did, it would likely violate several state laws prohibiting Illinois police agencies from participating in federal immigration enforcement.
The Christian County Sheriff’s Office told STLPR earlier this month that ICE agents coincidentally were driving through Morrisonville when they stumbled on the three teens outside the Casey’s.
Kettelkamp doubled down on that explanation on Monday, saying he believed federal immigration agents could have been driving through Morrisonville on the way back from the Taylorville Correctional Center, where they would have run into the teens.
“It would be very common if they needed gas and they wanted something to drink, to pull into Casey’s,” he said. “I think that’s exactly what happened.”
Kettelkamp said it was only after Goebel was driving away after returning to the station to drop off some boots they left in his truck that he saw ICE agents pull up to the gas station.
A since-deleted social media post shortly after the arrest shows a man in a dark shirt, khaki pants and a baseball cap handcuffing a man. Three more men in plain clothes surround him as well. “Ice landed in Morrisonville,” the bystander wrote. “Excited like a kid, I had to take pics and walk up to Chief Ayten (sic) playing an old school hit.”
Multiple employees at Casey’s told STLPR said they did not see the interaction, with a manager nervously adding on a phone call last week: “Anything you want to know, you have to talk to our corporate.” A Casey’s spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Aden Marucco, chairman of the Democratic-leaning Christian County Concerned Citizens group, condemned the arrests days later.
“Small traffic violations should not lead to three teenagers being held waiting for ICE to come and pick them up,” he wrote on social media. “Trust in our public institutions keeps our communities running smoothly and efficiently; once public officials break that trust, the trust in the law is lost.”
Separating a child from his family
U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, attempted to intervene afterward, according to a spokesperson for her office. But as the congresswoman sought answers, challenges arose.
Budzinski’s office was able to ultimately confirm that Cruz was transported to Texas and transferred into the custody of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement under the Administration for Children and Families. The agency often places unaccompanied children without legal status into the foster care system while attempting to find a suitable sponsor to take the child.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement does not confirm specific children in its custody. Cruz’s family declined to speak to STLPR for fear of retaliation from the federal government.
Cruz-Sanchez and Godoy were initially transferred to the Ste. Genevieve County Jail shortly after the stop, according to federal records. On June 22, a federal immigration judge in Kansas City approved Godoy’s request to be voluntarily deported to Mexico. ICE records state, as of Tuesday, the Honduran man did not appear in the federal agency’s public-facing database.
Cruz-Sanchez, who declined to be interviewed for this story, was transferred out of the Missouri jail late last week. As of Tuesday, he was detained in the Texas-based Port Isabel Service Processing Center.
After weeks of being asked for comment for this story, an ICE spokesperson told STLPR that “being in detention is a choice” and encouraged immigrants without legal status to self-deport.
The agency has not responded to questions about the 16-year-old Cruz’s whereabouts.
“Yet even congressional staff have reportedly struggled to obtain information and communicate with Jesus due to the way this transfer is being handled,” wrote Anna Marie Bell, an Edwardsville-based activist and family friend, following the arrests. “The family and advocates are still seeking basic answers about his custody, transportation, and access to legal paperwork.”
Sheriff Kettelkamp said that Aten and Goebel were just doing their jobs, and that this is a case of the media unnecessarily scrutinizing police.
“I understand that the community is upset, particularly because it’s a juvenile involved,” he said. “But the bottom line is Chief Aten and my deputy — they did their job and the ICE agents did their job. We didn’t do anything wrong.”
This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 9:39 AM.