Fitness issue pending for man charged with Bolingbrook robbery, jail battery

The new Will County Courthouse opened for the public in November of 2020.

A judge ordered a Chicago man charged with armed robbery and attacking three jail guards to undergo an evaluation to determine whether he’s fit to stand trial.

A fitness status hearing for Jaylan Banks, 21, has been scheduled for Jan. 21. Judge Dan Rippy ordered Will County Probation Services to examine Banks after Rippy made a Nov. 19 finding of a bona fide doubt as to Banks’ fitness for trial, court records show.

Banks has been in the Will County jail since Aug. 24 when he was arrested with Sherwan Williams, 23, in Bolingbrook on an armed robbery charge. Banks was also charged with aggravated battery and resisting an officer.

Since Banks’ arrest, he has been charged with aggravated battery for striking three guards at the jail.

Will County sheriff spokeswoman Kathy Hoffmeyer said that the incident involving Banks occurred on Sept. 4. When two guards were dealing with an inmate, Banks approached the guards and told them to leave his friend alone, she said.

Banks was told to return to his cell but he kept aggressively approaching the guards, Hoffmeyer said. Banks refused a lockdown procedure at the jail and he struck a guard, she said.

When a second guard intervened, Banks struck her in the head and the jail’s Emergency Response Team entered the housing unit to gain control of Banks, Hoffmeyer said.

Banks was not injured in the incident but guards were and were taken to Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, where they were treated and released, Hoffmeyer said.

When Banks was brought to court on Sept. 5, a judge found a reasonable basis for his warrantless arrest on charges alleging he battered guards. The judge also found Banks was “unruly, unsavory and disrespectful during court proceedings.”

Banks’ bond was increased from $500,000 to $1.5 million and he will need $150,000 for his release from jail.

Banks has filed a motion to dismiss the armed robbery case, claiming he did not fit the description of the suspect and the officers had no probable cause to arrest him.