Will County Sheriff

A Will County Sheriff’s Office correctional deputy now faces a charge of possessing a video of child sex abuse material in addition to charges of predatory sexual assault of a child and criminal sexual assault.

A correctional officer at the Will County jail made his first court appearance on Friday morning on a charge of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child following his arrest in Elwood by federal agents.

A major bust in Lockport has led to 16 felony charges filed against man accused of possessing cocaine, methamphetamine and AR-15 rifles, one of which is a “ghost” or unserialized version of the rifle, records show.

A reckless homicide charge has been filed in Will County against a Tesla driver over a Feb. 5 crash that claimed the lives of Sameer Gowani, 36, and Quincy Benbow, 33.

A Plainfield man is facing an aggravated battery charge of the 2-year-old child that is punishable by 6 to 30 years in prison.

A felony gun case fell apart after a Will County judge ruled a sheriff’s deputy unlawfully searched a vehicle based on the smell of marijuana that was never collected or tested.

A Harvey man who was charged at 16 with the 2020 New Lenox murder of Charles "Charlie" Baird, 19, has allowed a Will County judge to decide his fate. His trial began Tuesday.

Felony murder and armed robbery charges were dismissed against a Joliet Township man after a Will County judge found no evidence to support the armed robbery charge. 

A settlement has been reached in a federal lawsuit case against a Will County SWAT sniper who fatally shot a hostage taker after he surrendered to the police in 2022.

Advocates of the family of a Muslim child who was killed in 2023 in Plainfield Township say the convicted killer was radicalized by unfounded and dehumanizing claims about Palestinians in media coverage of the Gaza war.

Jury selection is expected to take place on Monday for the hate crime murder trial of a former Plainfield Township landlord after a judge allowed the admission of his statements to a sheriff’s deputy.

A Will County sheriff’s lieutenant’s fatal shooting of a hostage taker could have been the result of an involuntary trigger pull, according to a firearm expert’s analysis. 

A sensory playground in Plainfield has been dedicated to the memory of a Muslim child who was stabbed to death in 2023 in Plainfield Township.

A judge ruled a Will County sheriff’s deputy conducted an unlawful search of a vehicle that led to the arrest of a Lockport Township man on felony gun possession charges.

Defense attorneys in a Lockport Township gun case claim a vehicle search during a traffic stop was unjustified because a deputy claimed he could smell marijuana that was never recovered.

A Will County sheriff’s lieutenant who is being sued over claims that he wrongfully killed a hostage taker in 2022 at a Romeoville bank will face no charges over the incident.

The “unimaginable loss” of a Joliet family who were killed in a mass shooting one year ago continues to be “felt deeply within our department and across our community,” said Joliet’s police chief.

“People are very scared, very concerned, so we try to reassure them, at least,” Sylvia Acosta Chavez, executive director of the Spanish Community Center in Joliet, said in regards to the incoming Trump administrations deportation plans,

An appellate court upheld the pretrial detention of a former Joliet Outlaws motorcycle club member who for a second time is facing charges of killing a woman and hiding her body.

A Florida woman was sentenced to three years of probation after a Will County judge found her guilty of aggravated battery and hate crime of a pregnant Black woman in 2020 at a Homer Glen banquet hall.

The Will County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents about a phone call scam involving alleged outstanding warrants and missed jury duty.

A man who spent about two years in prison for a 2018 shooting in Joliet that wounded three men has been arrested again on charges of unlawful possession of handgun and drugs. 

A Will County judge allowed for the conditional jail release of a Homer Glen couple charged with a felony offense linked to their 2-year-old child’s suspected drug overdose death.

A defense attorney has renewed his bid for the jail release of a Shorewood man facing charges tied to a deadly shooting spree carried out by a Joliet man who later died by suicide in a confrontation with police.

The Joliet region has been a busy place in 2024, with a lot of business development, infrastructure projects and new housing coming in. But the region also saw some tragedy with a mass shooting and the death of a toddler from neglect and drugs.

An internal affairs investigation has still not begun over a Will County sheriff lieutenant’s fatal shooting of a bank hostage taker in 2022.

Public safety was prioritized in the Will County 2025 fiscal year budget, with public safety and judicial operations making up 62% of the county’s operating budget.

Devin Nier, 42, was arrested on Friday and charged with aggravated battery, and domestic battery, after barricading himself inside a home in unincorporated Plainfield Township Friday morning.

David A. Grijalva, 23, of Joliet was arrested Thursday in Channahon by the Will County sheriff’s police and the United States Marshals Service and charged in connection with the 2021 mass shooting at a Halloween party in Joliet Township.

The skeletal remains of a 1968 homicide victim in Wilmington Township has been exhumed and sent to a company based in Texas for DNA analysis and a possible genealogy match.

A pilot of a glider plane suffered minor injuries after he was forced to make an emergency landing in Wilmington, according to a Will County sheriff's deputy chief.

The U.S. Attorney's Office sent a "large quantity of discovery" to Will County prosecutors who are handling the Plainfield Township hate crime murder case against a landlord, court records show.

The body was identified Tuesday evening as Chicago pastor Warren Beard, 53, who was was last seen July 2 in Joliet, Will County Coroner Laurie Summers said.

The investigation into a Will County sheriff's lieutenant's shooting of a hostage taker at a Romeoville bank still remains open after more than two years. Illinois State Police won't publicly disclose records in the case.

Will County Sheriff's Police Deputies Victoria Sims Janovyak and Mike Janovyak have been working for seven years to increase fundraising and participation for Special Olympics in Will County through their department.

Will County prosecutors argue a Coal City man can still undergo a second trial for the 2017 murder of a woman at the Joliet Outlaws clubhouse. The man is trying to get the case dismissed on double jeopardy grounds.

A Joliet man will remain in jail in a case where he's charged with killing a man and wounding another man in a Lockport Township shooting. The two victims were not the intended target, police said.

A Joliet man has been charged with the first-degree murder of a man and wounding another man in a shooting that was reported on Feb. 8 in Lockport Township.

A Will County case where a Plainfield Township landlord is charged with killing a Muslim child was delayed once again because federal authorities have yet to complete their investigation.

The Will County Sheriff's Office are investigating an incident where the sheriff's son was reportedly scammed out of money he paid for the National Football Championship game.

A Will County sheriff's lieutenant facing a wrongful death lawsuit is seeking to attempt a settlement before answering the allegations. The investigation of the deadly shooting is still open after 21 months.

A married couple may have died in a possible murder-suicide in New Lenox Township.

The trial for a North Carolina man charged with the 2018 murder of a woman whose body was discovered by a hunter in Joliet Township has been rescheduled.

A Will County sheriff lieutenant's shooting of a man who took hostages at a Romeoville bank still remains under investigation and review since the incident occurred on May 10, 2022.

An arbitrator said the former Will County sheriff’s deputy’s actions that led to the 2021 crash had negatively affected the reputation of the sheriff’s office and he violated traffic laws that he was responsible for enforcing.

The animal cruelty case marks the latest effort by Will County officials this year to address alleged animal abuse occurring in rodeos.

The defense for Joseph Czuba are seeking all recordings – including from someone who is claiming they are a jail inmate – that may be used against him in the case where he’s accused of stabbing a child to death and attempting to kill his mother in Plainfield Township.

On Monday, Joseph Czuba, 71, was arraigned on charges of first-degree murder of 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume and on attempting to kill the boy's mother, Hanaan Shahin, 32, on Oct. 14 at a Plainfield Township residence.

A Will County judge will only allow still photography in the courtroom in a Plainfield Township murder and hate crime but that may change if the case is assigned to another judge.

The FBI is encouraging anyone with information regarding the Plainfield Township attack on a Muslim family – or other potential hate crimes – to contact the law enforcement agency at 1-800-CALL-FBI.