Joliet Purse-Snatcher Roughed Up 82-Year-Old Woman Buying Groceries At Jewel: Prosecutors Reveal

JOLIET, IL — Will County Judge Chrystel Gavlin has agreed with the Will County State's Attorney's Office petition to deny pretrial release for 41-year-old Shawn Miller of Joliet. The Clara Avenue man has just been formally charged with robbery and aggravated battery in connection with an April 5 attack at the Jewel grocery store parking lot near the corner of Midland Avenue and West Jefferson Street.

Judge Gavlin found that Miller must be kept in the Will County Jail under the dangerousness standard of the Illinois SAFE-T-Act. Will County Sheriff's Office deputies rounded him up and took him in custody late last week. Prosecutors waited 19 days before filing charges in connection with Miller's arrest by the Joliet Police Department back on April 5.

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On April 6, Joliet Patch reported that a Joliet woman who was doing her grocery shopping was attacked in broad daylight by a purse snatcher in the Jewel-Osco parking lot.

Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English explained that at 4:24 p.m. that Sunday, officers responded to the parking lot of Jewel-Osco at 1401 W. Jefferson St. for a robbery.

The elderly woman reported that she was loading groceries into her vehicle when a man approached and asked if she needed assistance. After she declined, the man tried to take her purse, according to police. A struggle ensued, during which the suspect forcibly took the purse and pushed the victim to the ground, English pointed out.

The victim tried to intervene as the robber entered his vehicle, but she was unsuccessful, police said. The suspect then fled by driving off. Witnesses in the parking lot saw the incident and captured images of the suspect's vehicle as it left the area.

English said that a short time later, on-duty officers found the suspect vehicle and conducted a traffic stop at the Phillips 66 gas station, 379 S. Chicago St. The driver was identified as Shawn Miller, 41, of Joliet and police said he was confirmed to be the suspect in the robbery.

The victim’s purse and its contents were later recovered from a garbage can near Western Avenue and Campbell Street. The victim declined medical assistance, English said.