Bank robbed in Joliet
A man claiming to be armed robbed a Joliet bank Thursday morning. At 10:20 a.m., the bandit walked into the Merchants and Manufacturers Bank, 601 E. Cass St., and approached a teller.

Drug squad nets $250,000 bust
The Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad seized more than $250,000 worth of cocaine, other drugs and weapons while executing a search warrant Tuesday.

Robbers kill man at Steger salon
The robbers had already torn the cords from the phones on the counter when they asked Daniel Moreno for his cell phone. Moreno immediately took his phone from his pocket and gave it to the masked man holding a gun to his head. "Here, take it," he said. They were his last words.

New Plainfield chief intends to stay put
The newest cop on the job in Plainfield sits behind the biggest desk in the department, but sometimes wishes he was still sitting behind the wheel of a squad car.

Four men plus 162 pairs of pants equals jail time
If you find anyone giving blue jeans to everyone they know this holiday season, you might want to ask if they've seen the softer side of Sears' security.

Cops: Armed drug dealer nabbed
A broken taillight reportedly led Joliet police to find drugs and a gun in a convicted drug dealer's car early Wednesday.

Driver hits van and video store
Police say a drunken driver created his own drive-in movie early Tuesday. An SUV driven by Michael Brow, 26, of Plainfield, struck a van, knocked over a light pole, and struck the wall of a video store, police say.

Armed thieves rob grocery store
JOLIET -- Police say two armed bandits robbed a grocery store Monday evening.

Stabbing starts busy weekend
Three apparently unrelated incidents, including a mysterious stabbing, kept police busy this weekend. A resident of the 200 block of Gordon Avenue called police around 3 a.m. Saturday after reportedly finding his roommate bleeding on the floor. He had been stabbed 25 times.

394 opens after spill
Bishop Ford Freeway re-opened Monday night after being shut down all day after a tanker spilled gasoline on the side of the road.

Crash claims life of Minooka woman
A crash claimed the life of a rural Minooka woman late Sunday afternoon. Dorothy O'Connor, 83, was killed in the crash, Grundy County Coroner John Callahan announced.

Woman barricades self in Crest Hill home
A barricade situation ended without incident Sunday aftrnoon when a woman came out of her Crest Hill home without incident. Nobody was injured.

Alleged hate crime probed
Amal Abusumayah was paying for her groceries when she felt a sharp tug on her headscarf. When she looked at who had pulled her hijab, Abusumayah saw a woman who moments earlier had made a derogatory comment about Islam. Tinley Park police are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

Man refuses to be robbed
JOLIET -- Two armed men tried to rob another man as he left an East Side bar Friday night, Joliet police said.

Warrants

Name: Montell Williams

Police blotter: Joliet teen shot in leg
A teen told police a masked man shot him in the leg Thursday.

Make change carefully
MINOOKA -- Police report they have taken two quick change scam reports from two fast-food businesses.

Aurora man hospitalized after hit in New Lenox
An Aurora man was hospitalized after being hit by a car Wednesday morning. Deputy Chief April DiSandro said the pedestrian was hit shortly before 6 a.m. on Cherry Hill Road near Washington Street.

From DUI to drugs at 1 site
If they'd been a little more mellow ... But then again, if all those flashing lights don't get your attention ... Will County deputies called to a crash arrested one man on DUI and other charges. Then the driver of another car that tried to drive around emergency vehicle was cited. But now he risks the loss of his vehicle because his passenger was arrested on a drug charges.

Plainfield police have suspect in hate crime
Police have yet to file charges in a racially motivated attack here the day before Halloween. Someone hurled two bricks through the front windows of a house occupied by a black family.

Police Blotter

Five charged in Wii theft
And away Wii go ... until the cops showed up. Four men and one juvenile were arrested Sunday after allegedly trying to run out the door with video game systems.

Police Blotter
JOLIET -- Police say a purse-snatcher failed to make a clean getaway Sunday.

Man makes mad dash from gunman
A local man fled for his life when a bandit dressed all in black brandished a pistol and demanded his money Saturday night. The 50-year-old man told police he was walking home from work about 7:45 p.m. when he was accosted on McRoberts Street near Cass Street.

SUV hits motorcyclist
WILMINGTON TOWNSHIP -- A man riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle was seriously injured Saturday afternoon when he was hit by a person driving a 2005 Chevy Trailblazer, state police said.

Warrants

Name: William J. McKeon

Joliet police nab teen after threat
A freshman at Joliet West High School was arrested Friday on a charge of disorderly conduct for writing a bomb threat on a urinal that spurred two searches at the school, police said.

Police: Local man not a cop
SHOREWOOD -- A 47-year-old man faces three felony counts of false personation of a peace officer.

Man sentenced for New Year's rape
A Joliet man described as a "despicable degenerate" was sentenced to six years in prison Friday for raping a teen on New Year's Day in 2008.

Police Blotter
JOLIET ­-- Students and visitors will be searched this morning as they arrive at Joliet West High School after a bomb threat was discovered Wednesday.

Man hurt in Halloween hammer attack
A man police say has already survived one attempted murder was the victim of a recent attack right out of a horror movie.

Convicted murderer fights former lawyers
The attorneys who lost the 2003 murder trial of a Joliet man charged with strangling his next-door neighbor and torching her duplex claimed they left it up to their client to waive his right to a jury and denied keeping him from taking the witness stand. Law partners Tom Breen and Todd Pugh, of Chicago, both said 36-year-old Vincent Trevizo was the one who wanted a judge to decide his fate. The two lawyers also said Trevizo was in no hurry to testify at his own trial.

Broken window a racial crime?
A teenage interracial relationship likely inspired a nasty pre-Halloween trick at a Plainfield family's home, police say.

Detectives rescue puppies, pit bulls
Will County Sheriff's police and animal control officers rescued five pit bulls from an apparent dogfighting operation Tuesday. Will County and Joliet Animal Control officers were notified about the animals when a Will County Land Use Department employee went to "red tag" a house neighbors say has been vacant for several months.

Convicted rapist's prison stay may lengthen
A jury found a convicted rapist guilty Wednesday afternoon of trying four years ago to kidnap a young woman as she walked home from her after-school job.

Teens busted in burglaries
JOLIET TOWNSHIP -- Five teens were arrested last week after being linked to burglaries this summer in the Sugar Creek subdivision.

Joliet casino parking lot shocker
One woman might be shocked to learn the county jail is also handicap accessible. Police say around noon Oct. 29, two vehicles were arriving in the parking lot of the Empress Casino when one of them took the last available handicapped parking space.

Robbery suspects nabbed
JOLIET -- Two teens were arrested after reportedly being part of a crew that robbed a man in a casino parking lot early Tuesday.

Special delivery: Firefighters

NEW LENOX -- Hot mail?

Rollover blocks I-55/Arsenal ramp
State police were called to a rollover accident at 6:46 a.m. today on the Arsenal Road ramp to northbound Interstate 55.

Man, 70, sentenced for child sex abuse
A 70-year-old Joliet man was sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday for sexually abusing two little girls while babysitting. Glenn Lawlor was found guilty of one count of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and four counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse following a bench trial in August.

DUI charge in fatal crash
Drunken driving charges have been filed against a man whose passenger died after a single-car crash Sunday night. Deputy Police Chief Mike Trafton said it was around 11:20 p.m. when Jose Reyes, 27, was driving a silver 2000 Toyota Camry north on Center Street.

Two hit with a crowbar in Bolingbrook
BOLINGBROOK -- Police say an ongoing fight led to two people being attacked with a crowbar early Sunday.

Vandal smashes windows, flees scene in Cadillac
JOLIET -- A man was seen breaking windows of parked cars around 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

Police Blotter: Theft, disorderly conduct charged
Derek T. Oneal , 18, of 528 W. Auborn in Crete, was arrested by Monee police and booked into the county jail Thursday on charges of theft and disorderly conduct.

Joliet woman not guilty in drug case
After deliberating for several hours Tuesday, a jury found a Joliet woman not guilty in a drug case.

Shorewood campaign aims for safer drivers
Shorewood police hope drivers can recognize the signs as they're traveling down residential streets. The village recently adopted the "Keep Kids Alive -- Drive 25" campaign and got 50 yard signs that will be put up in areas at the resident's request.

Warrants

Name: Javier Rivera

Blotter: Police make drug arrests
Angela C. Hernandez , 35, of Milwaukee, Wis., was arrested by sheriff's police and booked into the county jail Wednesday on charges of manufacture or delivery of cannabis and possession of a controlled substance.

After arrest, charges for Stebic still pending
Although Plainfield police arrested Craig Stebic on Sunday for allegedly threatening a neighbor, he has yet to be formally charged with a crime by the Will County state's attorney's office.

Minooka youths elude abductors
A young boy escaped the clutches of a band of Hispanic women who tried to lure him into a pickup Thursday.

Local liquor store robbed
JOLIET TOWNSHIP -- Armed men held up a liquor store Wednesday night.

Alleged dealer arrested

JOLIET -- Police say one man was arrested near a fast food restaurant for delivering items that weren't on the menu Tuesday afternoon.

From Champaign to drugs
Oh ... well, I guess he didn't. Joliet police were called around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday for a response to man saying had been robbed. The Champaign resident told officers he had been visiting family when a cousin "he had not seen in 15 years." took out a handgun and said, "Give me your money, cuz."

Nursing home evacuated after roof fire
Nursing home residents were evacuated after part of the roof caught fire Tuesday morning. Battalion Chief Robert DiLorenzo said it was 9:06 a.m. when flames and smoke were reported at Glenwood Care Center, 222 N. Hammes Ave. "There was a rooftop fire on the back of the one-story section of the building and smoke went into the vents near the kitchen area," he said.

Police Blotter

Police seeking assistance from the community
Vigilance, not fear, is a key to resident involvement in crime fighting, said Joliet police Chief Fred Hayes.

Future in-law to out-law?
JOLIET -- Police say a man shot at his girlfriend's relatives after the couple argued Saturday.

Police arrest three in ice cream parlor theft
HOMER GLEN -- Will County Sheriff's police have arrested a manager accused of being the "inside man" in a robbery at an ice cream parlor last month.

Man beaten on Black
JOLIET -- A Joliet man told police he was walking in the 900 block of Black Road on Thursday around 7:15 p.m. when three or four men beat him up and stole his phone.

Police Blotter: DUI
Jacqueline M. Tranchita, 47, of 1518 39th Ave. in Stonepark, was arrested by Will County police and booked into the county jail Friday on a charge of driving under the influence.

Probation for school worker in sex case
Laura J. Obzera, a former Valley View School District employee, who admitted she had sexual contact with a teenage boy, was sentenced Wednesday to 48 months of probation. Obzera, 50, of 876 Bonnie Brae Lane in Bolingbrook must register as a sex offender for life.

Warrants

Name: Jonathan L. Phillips

School bus hit in accident
PLAINFIELD -- Police say a car slid into a school bus after striking another car Friday morning.

Police: Shooter drill is place for errors
Police admit that it's a no-win situation when they respond to a shooting at a school or public event where somebody is actively trying to kill many people. "You might not have as many officers there (as you need to make up the formations)," Lt. Dwayne Killian said. "But any plan's better than no plan, and that's why we train. That's why we have active shooter drills."

Family held at gunpoint
Four masked intruders menaced a family at gunpoint early Thursday. Joliet Police Chief Fred Hayes said the home invasion occurred around 12:35 a.m. at the residence in the 300 block of South Chicago Street.

4 hospitalized after crash near Plainfield
Two adults and two children were hospitalized Wednesday night following a head-on collision near Plainfield. About 9 p.m., two vehicles were involved in a head-on crash on Route 126 near Ridge Road in unincorporated Kendall County, authorities said.