ALTON – Two local residents face their latest felony charges after separate but similar cases of attempting to flee from police.
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Erin R. Hardimon, 35, of Alton, was charged on Nov. 12, 2025 with two Class 3 felony counts of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer, as well as a Class A misdemeanor count of driving while license is revoked.
On Nov. 11, 2025, Hardimon allegedly knowingly failed to obey and attempted to elude an Alton Police officer after being given a visual or audible signal to stop the vehicle Hardimon was driving. Charging documents state his attempted flight exceeded 21 mph above the area’s legal speed limit and included the disobedience of two or more traffic control devices.
Hardimon is additionally accused of operating a Chevrolet Impala with no registration on Johnson Street in Alton. He had previously been convicted in 2011 of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer in a prior case also filed in Madison County.
A petition to deny Hardimon’s pretrial release from custody was filed by the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office. The petition states that while fleeing from a traffic stop, Hardimon reached speeds of 58 mph in a 30 mph zone, ignored multiple stop signs, drove the wrong way in traffic, and nearly struck another vehicle.
“He eventually fled on foot, leaving the vehicle in drive,” the petition states. “He was located by a drone, hiding in the woods.”
A Godfrey resident, 40-year-old Melvin S. Surratt, IV was charged in a separate case also filed on Nov. 12, 2025 with a Class 3 felony count of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer.
Surratt reportedly knowingly failed to obey and attempted to flee at more than 21 mph over the legal speed limit from an Alton Police officer who gave him a visual or audible signal to stop his vehicle on Sept. 16, 2025.
According to the state’s petition to deny Surratt’s pretrial release from custody, he accelerated to 60 mph in a 25 mph zone and ignored a red light entering onto East Broadway. The officer eventually terminated the pursuit for purposes of public safety.
Charging documents note Surratt had previously been convicted of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer in a prior Madison County case from 2022.
The Alton Police Department presented both of the latest cases against Hardimon and Surratt. Hardimon has since been ordered released from custody pending trial, while Surratt currently remains in custody at the Madison County Jail.
All individuals charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
