MT. CARROLL – Court documents from 2024 reveal more details surrounding the recently filed federal lawsuit alleging Fourth Amendment violations against Mt. Carroll Police and the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office.
In late April, the attorney representing Mt. Carroll man Paul Little filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing officers with the Carroll Co. Sheriff’s Office and Mt. Carroll Police Department of violating Paul’s Fourth Amendment rights when they allegedly entered his home without a warrant and arrested him.
According to the lawsuit, the officers in question were investigating a domestic battery allegation against Paul’s son Matthew Little when Paul refused entry into his home because the officers did not have a warrant. The lawsuit alleges Paul suffered injuries to his arm when the officers forced their way into the home.
Paul was booked into the Carroll Co. Jail and charged with Resisting or Obstructing a Peace Officer, a Class A Misdemeanor. Matthew was also booked and charged with Domestic Battery, a Class A Misdemeanor.
Court records show prosecutors later dismissed the charge against Paul, but Matthew pleaded Guilty to Battery, a Class A Misdemeanor, and sentenced to 12 months of court supervision and ordered to pay hundreds of dollars in fines and fees, of which were paid in full in March 2025, according to Judici.
On Monday, I obtained copies of court documents for each of their cases, of which confirm officers did not have any warrants to search the home, nor make any arrests, at the time of the alleged incident.
Shortly after the alleged incident, Carroll Co. Deputy Tyler Todd and Sheriff Ryan Kloepping signed a Notice of Arrest Without Warrant for both Paul and Matthew, and their respective charges.
On the morning after the alleged incident, Deputy Todd signed a Probable Cause Affidavit for both Paul and Matthew, respectively. The affidavit states officers went to Paul’s home to speak to Matthew after a woman reported to police Matthew had bitten their 2-year-old son.
After observing ‘what looked like a human type bite on the side of his face,’ Deputy Todd went to the mother’s address in the 14000 block of Scenic Palisades Rd in Mt. Carroll where Paul and Matthew were residing at the time of the alleged altercation with police, according to the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, Deputy Todd says Paul answered the door and advised the officer Matthew was inside the home. The affidavit goes on to say the officer informed Paul he was there to speak to Matthew about an alleged domestic violence incident involving a minor child that occurred earlier that day, but, after a brief argument, Paul proceeded to shut the door in the officer’s face and told them to ‘get a warrant.’
The affidavit alleges Paul ‘turned to run’ after being told he was going to get arrested for obstructing before allegedly fighting deputies until his hands were behind his back and he was taken into custody.
According to the affidavit, Deputy Todd says Matthew admitted to biting the child as a punishment for ‘crying and not wanting to wear pants that morning,’ and that he felt biting the child was ‘excessive.’
According to Illinois state law, regarding arrests without a warrant, any law enforcement officer may make an arrest without a warrant if the officer has probable cause to believe that the person has committed or is committing any crime, even if the crime was not committed in the presence of the officer.
According to Illinois Legal Aid, law enforcement officers can only enter your home without a warrant if you give them consent to enter, or if there is an emergency, such as chasing someone who committed a felony. As it stands now, there is no record of this criteria being met when officers entered Paul’s home.
With that said, however, Illinois Legal Aid recommends you should not physically try to stop law enforcement officers from entering or searching your home. Instead, they encourage you to document the search on camera, if possible, and immediately write down all of the details that you can remember.
This is a developing story. Updates will be provided separately as they become available.
Click the links below to view court documents.
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