Upskirt Videos At Joliet Target Store Spark Confession: Joliet PD

JOLIET, IL — In October, Joliet Patch broke the news about the Joliet police's arrest of Elias Jothi, a 26-year-old Caton Farm Road resident charged with disorderly conduct and attempted unauthorized recording/live video transmission. Now, Patch has learned Jothi confessed to taking upskirt video of a young woman at the Target store at 2071 Plainfield Road, and to taking upskirt videos on a half-dozen other occasions, according to police reports.

"Jothi stated that on August 9, 2023, he went to Target to buy milk, at which time, he noticed a lady wearing 'short clothes' for which he has a weakness," Joliet Police Detective Paul Rodriguez wrote in his police report of the interview. "Jothi described the victim as having brown hair, glasses and wearing a dress. Jothi advised that 'her clothes would reveal things.'"

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In recent weeks, Joliet Patch obtained dozens of pages of Joliet police reports surrounding the arrest of Jothi. The Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow filed two misdemeanor charges against Jothi on Sept. 26. The incident at the Target on Plainfield Road happened Aug. 9.

Jothi sat down for his interview with Joliet police detectives Brad McKeon and Rodriguez a week after the incident.

Here are some of the key statements Jothi gave to the Joliet police detectives, according to Rodriguez's report of the interview:

"Jothi began by stating that he was aware of this incident and had been banned by Target staff on that day, when he had returned. Jothi stated that he advised (name redacted by Joliet police) of the incident, feeling both guilt and shame."

As for his Aug. 9 visit to Target, Jothi told Joliet police he "looked at clothing close to the female victim" as she was looking at jewelry. Jothi took five or six videos of her, using his Apple iPhone without her knowing, the report notes.

"I asked Jothi to describe how he used his phone to take the videos, and he replied that he put the screen of the phone facing down, with the camera facing up, inside his shopping basket, which he then left on the floor," Rodriguez's report noted.

Jothi agreed to provide the Joliet police with his iPhone, revealing he had deleted a number of prior upskirt videos as well.

"Jothi stated that he had struggled, especially during the summer, with pornography," Detective Rodriguez noted. "He stated that on 5-6 occasions during the summer, he used his cell phone to take unauthorized photos up women's dresses. He advised that he did not remember the locations of these incidents.

"Jothi stated that he has a fixation with an 'upskirt' view. Jothi stated that on those other occasions, he would take the videos, exit the store, then delete the videos so that he didn't raise suspicion or be caught by (name redacted from police report). He stated that he would then go home and masturbate to the memories of the videos."

According to the Joliet police reports obtained by Joliet Patch, when asked about his Aug. 9 visit to the Target store, Jothi told the two detectives:

• He took five videos of the young woman.
• Four of the videos showed clothing or things he was recording.
• When asked about the last video he took, Jothi said that after exiting the store, he returned to his car in the parking lot, he saw the preview screen, but he fast-forwarded through the recording due to his feelings of guilt and shame.
• Jothi advised he never actually watched the video he recorded, the police report noted.
• "I asked Jothi if it was possible if the last video recording he spoke about may contain images of the victim," Detective Rodriguez wrote. "Jothi advised that it was possible, although he adamantly denied ever seeing the victim in the video, stating he only fast forwarded through the preview of the video."

• Jothi told the Joliet detectives that during this past summer, "when he recorded female victims without their consent, he never used any other device other than his cell phone. He stated that after recording the videos, he never transferred any of the information and or videos to any other device, stating he deleted the videos before returning home, where he would masturbate to the memories of those images."
• Jothi told Joliet police he had a laptop computer at his home and he was willing to provide it to the detectives for their review.
• "Jothi advised that he was sorry for his behavior and that he should not go without punishment," Rodriguez wrote. "However, (he) wished to move forward from this event and begin to move on with his life."

According to Joliet's police reports, Jothi was arrested, booked and released on a $1,500 I-Bond for the two misdemeanor charges. He resides in the 2400 block of Caton Farm Road.

Jothi retained downtown Joliet lawyer Douglas DeBoer as his criminal defense attorney. Jothi's next pretrial hearing at the Will County Courthouse is next week, on Dec. 6, in Courtroom 302.

A follow-up Joliet Patch story in the coming days will piece together how the Target store victim discovered Jothi's behavior and what she said to Joliet police to spur the investigation.