Peoria business leader accused of DUI in deadly UTV crash

PEORIA COUNTY (25News Now) - A business executive well known in the local sport community has been arrested on drunk driving accusations for a crash that killed a woman late Saturday night in rural Peoria County.

Sheriff Chris Watkins said deputies were called shortly before 11 p.m. to private property in the 5600 block North Kickapoo-Edwards Road after a utility terrain vehicle left a paved driveway, crashed into a wooden post, and overturned.

Watkins said four people were riding the UTV, including a 50-year-old woman who was found partially pinned under the vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The sheriff said deputies found signs that the driver, Joshua Bellamy, 52, of Peoria was driving under the influence.

According to Watkins, investigators obtained a search warrant to collect blood and urine samples after Bellamy refused to undergo field sobriety and chemical testing.

Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood has not released the name of the woman who died in the crash.

Bellamy is founder and owner of The Yard Peoria, a former warehouse used for year-round baseball and soccer. 25News spoke to Bellamy just last week, marking The Yard Peoria’s 10th anniversary.

The Peoria Riverfront Museum also listed Bellamy as managing partner of Peoria City Soccer, participating in an Oct. 7 “Soccer in America” discussion at the museum, according to the museum’s Facebook post.

Bellamy’s name is not currently listed on Peoria City Soccer’s website.

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