Car Burglar Hits Thorntons, Joliet Police Make Arrest: JPD

JOLIET, IL — While most citizens across Joliet were sleeping, 29-year-old Joliet resident Rodolfo Paredez Jr. was breaking into an employee's vehicle at the Thorntons gas station at 400 Collins Street early Monday morning, according to Joliet police reports.

Officers later captured Paredez at his house on Oscar Avenue and took him away in handcuffs, charging him with two counts of burglary to a motor vehicle, arrest reports show.

Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English said the officers were called to Thorntons at 3:08 a.m.

According to English, the following events led Paredez's arrest:

• Officers determined that a Ford Focus owned by a store employee was burglarized while the unoccupied vehicle was parked in the lot. The vehicle was unlocked at the time of the crime and a purse containing cash, identification and credit cards was taken.
• Officers learned that Paredez had originally taken one purse, but then he returned to the vehicle a short time later and took a second purse from the same vehicle.
• Officers identified the suspect as Paredez through video surveillance of the incident. The officers later found Paredez at his residence in the 200 block of Oscar Street and placed him into custody without incident.
• Paredez was later let go at the police station, after receiving his notice to appear in court.