Displaced By Kankakee Tornado, Wandering Man In Joliet Leaves Rifle At Harrah's Casino: Prosecutors

JOLIET, IL — An older man displaced by the Kankakee tornadoes will now stay in the Will County Jail indefinitely under the SAFE-T-Act after he brought his stolen SARI rifle to downtown Joliet's Harrah's Casino and Hotel and left it there on April Fool's Day, according to court records.

A recent transplant to Joliet, Emmett Ezell, age 65, has now been arrested twice by Joliet police since his arrival in the community. This time, he's not getting out of the Will County Jail, thanks to last weekend's ruling from holiday court judge Ken Zelazo.

The criminal complaint shows that Ezell is now charged with four crimes of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon.

According to the Will County State's Attorney's Office petition to deny pretrial release, Ezell entered the Harrah's Casino in downtown Joliet on Apri 1 with his suitcases and was told that he was previously banned and unwanted on the premises.

Ezell then furnished his ID and credit card before being told he was in fact banned, prosecutors noted.

At that point, Ezell walked away, heading eastbound on Clinton Street, however, he left his suitcases back at Harrah's Casino, court files indicate.

"The video of him entering and leaving his suitcases behind was preserved," prosecutors notified Judge Zelazo.

The Harrah's Casino security force gave the suitcases to the Joliet Police Department and its officers opened them finding an AK style SARI rifle inside one of the suitcases along with 50 rounds of ammunition of .45-caliber ammunition, the petition revealed.

There was also 28 rounds of .40-caliber ammunition, 60 rounds of 7.62 X 39 ammunition and 30 more rounds of .45-caliber ammunition of a different brand, the court documents show.

Ezell is a convicted felon; back in 2019 he was convicted in Kankakee County of aggravated battery and his FOID is revoked, prosecutors said.

"The rifle was reported stolen by Leonardo Corbett of Kankakee, who the defendant resided with prior to the recent tornadoes," according to court filings. "Leonard's documentation and serial number information for the rifle is still being sought."

Joliet Patch, the region's most widely read source for Joliet area crime, reported on Ezell's first arrest by the Joliet police last week, in a March 31 story headlined,"Joliet Police Called By Gas Station, Arrest Made At Burger King Restaurant, Dog Sent To Animal Control."