Biggest Joliet Area Crime Stories In 2018

JOLIET, IL -There were a number of criminal cases that touched the Joliet area community in 2018. Several cases involved murders, but not all of them. Others involved a Joliet Police officer standing trial on felony charges. Another case involved a former Joliet City Council member standing trial for another offense of drinking and driving.

Here's a look back at several of the Joliet area's biggest crime stories in 2018:

Krasawski Convicted Of Body Shop Murders

In December, Will County Circuit Judge David Carlson sentenced the now 43-year-old Billy Krasawski to life in prison with no parole at a yet-to-be determined Illinois Department of Corrections prison. Krasawski used a pipe wrench and a hammer to kill Mike Oram, 48, and Jamie Wills, on March 8, 2016 inside Oram's family-owned body shop on Joliet's east side. This May, after barely two hours of deliberations, a Will County jury found Krasawski guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the brutal blunt-force trauma killings at the body shop on Cass Street. The investigation was handled by the Joliet Police Department.

Patrick Gleason Killed Izzy's Bartender Danny Rios: Cops

Patrick Gleason, 55, lived on Dearborn Street in Crest Hill, but he was not welcome to drink alcohol at the watering hole a few blocks away on Joliet's Theodore Street. Around 1:15 a.m. March 9, Gleason allegedly walked into the Izzy's Bar wearing a mask. Bartender Danny Rios, 52, fell to the ground. He was fatally shot. The owner's son, Alfonso "Izzy" Izquierdo, was shot in the abdomen. More bullets were fired at another patron, but those shots missed. Minutes later, several Joliet Police cars rolled up to the parking lot where they found that the Izzy's customers had taken down the gunman. Gleason's violent crimes were captured on the bar's videotape surveillance, lawyers have told Patch. The case probably won't go to trial until late 2019 or perhaps 2020.

Joliet District 86 School Teacher Murders His Wife: Complaint

While school was out for summer, there was trouble at the McDonough Street home of District 86 school teachers, Michael Kazecki and his wife Becky, both 38. In early August, Michael Kazecki phoned the Joliet Police claiming his wife had injured herself, perhaps from drinking excessively. On Aug. 7, she died at St. Joe's hospital. Joliet Police put a couple of their best detectives on the case. They interviewed Michael Kazecki, a Washington Junior High School teacher, about his wife's injuries. In the end, he was charged with first-degree murder. Becky was a teacher at Gompers Junior High School. Later on, Will County Associate Judge Ben Braun rejected arguments by Will County Assistant State's Attorneys to issue a $5 million bail for the murder defendant. The judge set Kazecki's bail 60 percent lower. A couple weeks later, Kazecki's parents came up with $200,000 to bail their loved one out of the Will County Jail.

Peter Zabala Charged With Ashley Tucker's Death

Less than three weeks after 25-year-old Ashley Tucker vanished from Joliet on Oct. 13, a Saturday night, the Joliet Police Department announced three counts of first-degree murder were filed against Peter Zabala, a dangerous registered sexual predator. Zabala, now 43, had been put in custody on unrelated charges of being an unregistered sex offender, is now facing formal murder charges and two counts of concealment of a homicide.

"I can't even begin to describe the diligence and work ethic every member of the Investigations Division has exhibited in working this case," Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner remarked after news of the arrest.

2 Burned Bodies, Both Joliet Murder Victims, Found On Rowell Ave

A call came into the East Joliet Fire Department around 9:55 p.m. Tuesday, June 26. Near Rowell Avenue and Sugar Creek Drive, a vehicle was fully engulfed. After the fire was doused, Will County Sheriff's deputies discovered two dead bodies inside. "Both bodies were severely unrecognizable but have been identified as two (men)," the sheriff's department announced.

Both murder victims were Joliet residents, Xavier Sallie, 19, and Don Tae Ray Morgan, 21. Both died of a single gunshot wound. "Detectives believe the vehicle that Sallie and Morgan were found in was intentionally set on fire in order to conceal the murders. Xavier Sallie was the owner of the vehicle, a 2004 Mercedes," the Will County Sheriff's Office announced in June.

The Will County Sheriff's Office has been unable to solve the double homicide. No arrests have taken place.

Illegal Immigrant I&M Canal Rapist Gets Sentenced To Prison

In August, Will County Judge Dave Carlson sentenced confessed Joliet serial rapist Miguel Luna to a maximum prison term of 80 years. The criminal defendant was supposed to be deported back to Mexico in 2012, but Luna's removal from Joliet never happened, according to the judge. In 2015 and 2016, Luna raped two women along the I&M Canal Trail near Route 6. A third rape charge was dismissed under a plea bargain.

At sentencing, Luna, now 37, told the judge how he was constantly being tempted by the Devil. Regarding one of his victims, Luna told the judge how she was "wearing those sexy shorts and a bra. When I saw her a lot of sexual thoughts went through my mind." He said that he prayed for 10 to 20 seconds asking God to stop him from acting on his sexual impulses. Then, he decided to ride his bicycle faster and faster, tackling the college student, punching her in the face, before tying her up and sexually assaulting her for an hour in a nearby wooded area off the trail.

"I couldn't stop myself that morning even though I tried with all my heart ... Afterward, I was praying to God for the police to arrest me because I was very, very, repentant. In my heart, when I got arrested, I was very happy."

Judge Kennedy: Officer Nick Crowley Not Guilty Of Felony Crimes

In late May, Will County Judge Daniel Kennedy announced that he had found Joliet Police Officer Nick Crowley not guilty of two counts of reckless discharge of a firearm, stemming from an incident in July 2017 at the townhouse of Crowley's girlfriend, fellow Joliet Police Officer Cassie Socha.

Afterward, Crowley's lawyer Jeff Tomczak blamed Joliet Police Chief Brian Benton for the debacle that resulted in charges against Crowley. Benton then put Crowley on paid leave from the department for many months, taking no action to terminate him."He's not guilty. There was no direct evidence (of any crime). All the evidence was that this was accidental," Tomczak said.

Jim McFarland, Repeat Drunk Driver, Gets Sentenced

In April, a Will County jury found former Joliet City Councilman Jim McFarland guilty of drunken driving during the early morning hours of July 10, 2016. He had fought the case, but the Will County State's Attorney's Office presented the jury with powerful evidence of McFarland's guilt. Several months after his DUI, McFarland resigned from the Joliet City Council. McFarland also had a DUI conviction years earlier.

In May, Will County Judge Chrystel Gavlin spared McFarland of jail time. He was placed on 12 months of conditional discharge by the court. He was ordered to perform 240 hours of community service at a non-profit agency, and he must attend all counseling that is court-mandated including a victim impact panel.

Body Dumped In Joliet Was Murder Victim

Just a few years ago, Marissa Koziel was busy running to class at Lincoln-Way Central like other teenagers trying to find their place in the world. On Feb. 23, a group of kids walking along a lonely stretch of California Avenue on Joliet's far east side made a grim discovery. That Friday afternoon, the kids stumbled across Koziel's body. On Feb. 14, her family had reported her missing to the Manhattan Police Department. The Will County Coroner's Office ruled her death a homicide. Someone had ended the 21-year-old woman's life with a single bullet to her head.

"For someone to do this to her and take her life away at such a young age, it's horrible," her best friend Madison Gill of New Lenox told Joliet Patch in early April. "I don't know how to describe it."

The Will County Sheriff's Office has been unable to solve the double homicide. No arrests have been made.

Will County Sheriff: 2 Confess To Slaying Near Belmont AC

Around 1 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 28, the Will County Sheriff's Department responded to the 500 block of Fox Street in Joliet Township. Authorities found 20-year-old Nathan Ballard face down on the roadway. Two days later, Elijah Watson, 20, and Anthony Francimore, 23, were both charged with first-degree murder.

Will County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Dan Jungles told Joliet Patch that the homicide investigation came together quickly because of great cooperation from witnesses at the scene, the recovery of physical evidence at the scene, plus there was a quick response from sheriff's deputies and investigators. The slaying occurred on the outskirts of the Belmont baseball field property, along the roadway.

Nasty Crash Involves Repeat Drunk Driver Billy Ray Jones

In March Billy Ray Jones, a repeat drunk driver, was arrested by the Joliet Police Department following a horrendous crash on Essington Road that left another motorist badly injured. Jones was apparently traveling nearly twice the speed limit, and he blew a red light, authorities have said. According to the criminal complaint, the 48-year-old Jones, who lives in the 2500 block of Joliet's Lockner Boulevard, faces four felony charges of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol. One of the counts alleges his blood-alcohol concentration was at least two times above the state's legal limit of 0.08. Two of the crimes accuse Jones of third-offense drunken driving. The other two accuse him of causing serious bodily harm to the other motorist.

In August, crash victim Magalie Merisca sued Jones and Double J Sports Bar for negligence and dram shop act violations. Merisca suffered fractures in three regions of her spine, requiring reconstructive surgery, her Will County lawsuit states. Double J Sports Bar was named as a co-defendant because, "Double J … sold and served alcoholic beverages to Billy R. Jones at the Double J Sports Bar," the lawsuit states.

Body Dumped Near Woodlawn Cemetery Property

In November, several Will County Sheriff's vehicles lined Jefferson Street near Houbolt Road after a young woman's body was found in a secluded wooded area near the Woodlawn Cemetery property. Several days later, Will County announced that 24-year-old Deiontae Shawnrico McMillian was charged in the death of 22-year-old dancer Danica Ford.

McMillian, a Will County criminal complaint filed on Nov. 21 states, had "knowledge that Danica Ford died by homicidal means, knowingly concealed the death of Danica Ford by placing her in a hole on property located north of Jefferson Street and east of Houbolt Road and west of Essington Road in Joliet, Will County, Illinois."

Will County Sheriff's officials do not believe Ford was killed in the Joliet area. The woman from Concord, North Carolina, had been in the Schaumburg area in the months before she was killed.

Main image of Billy Krasawski via Will County Sheriff's Office