Palestinian Passport Surrendered By Joliet Man

JOLIET, IL -The 23-year-old Joliet man who is accused of running out of the Essington Road Tobacco store this week and firing his gun toward other motorists is no longer in custody. Will County Jail records show that Ata Shnenah was released from the county jail on Wednesday night. The criminal defendant, who lives in the 100 block of Belden Way, came up with 10 percent of his $250,000 bail, jail logs reflect.

He can remain free while his aggravated discharge of a gun case proceeds at Will County's Courthouse. In the meantime, a judge imposed several restrictions on Shnenah. For starters, he was forced to surrender his Palestinian passport, which will be stored in the criminal vault at the courthouse, court records indicate.

Second, Shnenah was made to surrender his FOID card. Third, he had to give up his conceal and carry card within 24 hours of his release from custody.

Fourth, he must surrender all of his guns to the Will County Sheriff's Office while his charge is pending.

The criminal complaint, brought by Joliet's Police Department, alleges that Shnenah "knowingly discharged a firearm in the direction of an orange colored Chevy Cobalt which (he) knew to be occupied by a person."

The gun incident happened Monday night and nobody was struck by the gunfire. Essington Road, as people know, is an extremely busy thoroughfare on Joliet's west side.

As for the defendant, he is being represented by private counsel, Peter Ciesielski of Chicago. Court records also show that the court has arranged for an Arabic interpreter to attend Shnenah's next criminal court hearing, set for June 12 in Courtroom 405.

Mugshot via Will County Sheriff