Morris man charged with bursting into Joliet home, attacking man in bed

A Morris man previously convicted of assaulting two officers was arrested Tuesday and accused of forcefully entering a Joliet residence and attacking a man while he was still in bed, police said.

Although Joliet police said the event in question occurred July 16, 28-year-old Dawson Abbitt wasn’t arrested until detectives could name him as a suspect in connection with the incident.

About 1 a.m. July 16, officers responded to a residence in the 400 block of Western Avenue in response to report of a home invasion, police said.

Officers said a man entered the residence by forcefully opening the front door before he “then jumped on the male victim while he was still in bed and began repeatedly punching the victim in the face.”

The suspect then fled from the residence and the victim called 911. After detectives named Abbitt as a suspect, police found him about 2:45 a.m. Tuesday in the 600 block of North Broadway Street.

Abbitt was arrested and formally charged with home invasion and criminal damage to property.

In 2018, Abbitt pleaded guilty to misdemeanor aggravated assault and obstructing a police officer.

In that case, Abbitt was accused of threatening to stab and kill Joliet police officers and then clenching his fist and screaming that he was going to harm one officer, court records show.

Judge Jessica Colon-Sayre sentenced him to 180 days in jail and gave him credit for 34 days already served, court records show.

In the same year, Abbitt also pleaded guilty to felony aggravated assault against a Joliet police officer. He “squared off with a police officer with clenched fists,” court records state.

Judge Dan Rippy sentenced him to serve at least 50% of a one-year prison sentence and gave him credit for already serving 56 days.