Joliet man pleads guilty to aggravated battery in connection with I-55 shooting

A Joliet man has pleaded guilty to aggravated battery of a bouncer who was wounded in a 2020 shooting and prosecutors say the man is being held accountable for the actions of another person.

On March 3, Bryson Carter, 28, of Joliet, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of aggravated battery in the Dec. 13, 2020 incident.

The charge said Carter – or one whose actions he is legally accountable for – had caused harm to a private security officer in retaliation for performing his official duties.

Carter was “accountable for the actions of another individual who struck and caused great bodily harm to the victim,” according to an official statement of facts signed March 3 by a prosecutor.

Judge Vincent Cornelius sentenced Carter to serve 50% of a 12-year prison sentence and credited him with 808 days already served at the Will County jail.

Officials with the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office and Illinois State Police declined to answer questions about the case because the investigation was still open.

“The case is still active and in order to protect the integrity of the case, no additional information can be released,” said Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Delila Garcia.

Carter was originally indicted on charges of aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated discharge of firearm.

In 2021, Will County State’s Attorney spokeswoman Carole Cheney confirmed Carter was charged over the same Dec. 13 shooting on Interstate 55 that was investigated by the Illinois State Police. Cheney said the victim at the time of the Dec. 13 incident was working as a bouncer for Anthony’s Restaurant and Pub, 3151 Voyager Lane, Joliet.

The victim, who was 37 at the time, was traveling on I-55 at Black Road when another vehicle pulled alongside him and an occupant fired shots at him, according to Illinois State Police.

A forfeiture complaint filed by prosecutors provided further allegations about the events that led to the shooting.

The victim had told police he was working at Anthony’s bar and that two men were kicked out when they got into a fight with bouncers, the forfeiture complaint said.

When the man left Anthony’s bar after he was done with work, a vehicle pulled out of a parking lot across from the restaurant and began to follow him.

He said the vehicle “followed him on Voyager Lane” and onto southbound Interstate 55, the forfeiture complaint said.

The man said he slowed down to “allow the vehicle to pass him,” according to the forfeiture complaint, and that is when the vehicle pulled up next to him and multiple shots were fired into his vehicle.

The man “ducked in his vehicle and attempted to pull over, while watching the other vehicle to ensure they did not come back,” the forfeiture complaint said.

The owner of Anthony’s told police that the identification cards of everyone who comes to the bar are scanned and that Carter and another person were identified as the ones who fought with the bouncers, the forfeiture complaint said.

Police were able to determine that a Chevrolet Malibu was registered to Carter and was involved in the incident, the forfeiture complaint said.

After Carter’s arrest, he told the police that he was told by a second person in his Chevrolet Malibu to follow the bouncer from Anthony’s and a third person in his car had “rolled down his window and fired multiple shots into” the victim’s car, the forfeiture complaint said.