He Tried To Shoot Joliet Cop: Whatever Happened To Accused Bank Robber?

JOLIET, IL — This week marks the one-year anniversary since several Joliet police converged around the Timber Pointe Drive condominium of Rolling Meadows bank robbery suspect Victor Barakat. As Joliet Police Sgt. Chris D'Arcy and another officer tried to take the New Lenox used car salesman into custody after introducing themselves at his front door, Barakat pulled his semi-automatic pistol out of his pants pocket, according to police.

Joliet police body camera video of the dramatic incident showed Barakat's gun click, but the bank robbery suspect did not have a bullet in the chamber.

"The pistol was in his left hand," D'Arcy wrote in his police report. "He then turned it towards myself and the other officers. As Barakat did so, I heard the distinct metallic click that I recognized to be a trigger pull. As Barakat swung the gun to his right, I grabbed his left wrist. While I was grabbing his wrist, other officers took control of Barakat. Barakat was taken to the ground.

"Once on the ground, I could see that Barakat's finger was still in the trigger well of the pistol. I was able to wrestle the pistol out of Barakat's grip and threw the pistol away from him."

According to D'Arcy's police report, Barakat's gun had no bullets in the chamber and six bullets in the magazine. Then, a few minutes later, even after Barakat was placed in handcuffs, one of Joliet's newer officers almost had his gun removed by Barakat, body camera video showed.

After two Joliet officers had Barakat handcuffed against the back of a squad car, Officer Allen Pina hollered, "My gun!"

"Victor, stop it!" Sgt. D'Arcy announced. "Victor, listen to me."

"My shoulder. My shoulder," Barakat screamed. "You broke my shoulder."

"OK, relax," D'Arcy replied. "Don't be reaching for a cop's gun, you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Stop it. It's all over. Stop it, okay?"

"Okay."

"Do you need an ambulance?"

"Yes, my shoulder hurts."

"Okay," D'Arcy responds. "No more of these shenanigans. You understand me?"

"All right."

"Because that's how people get hurt. So knock it off!"

Federal Case Update:

For the past year, Barakat has remained in federal lockup at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on West Van Buren in Chicago.

His bank robbery case has moved forward at the U.S. District Court building at a slow pace.

In late January, Barakat took it upon himself to mail a typed letter to U.S. District Judge John Tharp and the purpose of his letter was to complain about his lack of interaction with one of his criminal defense lawyers, Michael Ettinger of Palos Heights, whom he retained last April.

You can read the entire letter at the bottom of this Joliet Patch story.

In his letter to Judge Tharp, Barakat wrote: "The defendant, despite of his limited phone calling minutes that he usually utilizes for communication with his family and friends, has attempted to call his counsel inquiring about any updates on his case," Barakat wrote in his Jan. 29 letter. "On one occasion the counsel told his client to 'Stop calling me everyday, I am very busy here.' That incident created some hesitancy within the defendant to call his attorney which should not be the case at all."

After reading Barakat's letter, Judge Tharp entered the following order into Barakat's court case earlier this month: "Upon review of the defendant's letter to the Court, defense counsel is directed to promptly confer with the defendant."

Meanwhile, a different criminal defense lawyer who is also representing Barakat, Chicago attorney Lawrence S. Beaumont, filed a motion in January asking the judge to dismiss one of the counts in Barakat's federal indictment.

"Mr. Barakat is charged ... with possessing a firearm after sustaining a felony conviction. As applied to the facts of this case and facially, is unconstitutional," Beaumont argued in his filing.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago then filed 68 pages of court documents in its reply to Barakat's motion.

At this point, Judge Tharp has not issued a ruling on the motion, and it remains anybody's guess on when Barakat will stand trial on his bank robbery charges.

Will County Court Case Update:

After the Feb. 13, 2023, gun incidents with the Joliet police on Timber Pointe Drive, the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow also charged Barakat with seven felonies, including two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, Sgt. Chris D'Arcy, plus two counts of felon in possession of a gun, the attempted disarmament of police officer Allen Pina, aggravated assault of a police officer and aggravated assault using a firearm at a police officer.

On March 23, the grand jury bill of indictment returned against Barakat, and his bail was set at $2.5 million. However, Barakat has not been booked into the Will County Jail because he remains in the federal lockup facility on West Van Buren in downtown Chicago.

On May 1, Barakat's criminal prosecution in Will County was listed as inactive and that's where things stand now, as his federal bank robbery charges take precedent, one year later.

Related Joliet Patch coverage from 2023:

Dramatic Video: Bank Robbery Suspect Tried Shooting Joliet Police

3 Prior Bank Robberies: Used Car Dealer Served Federal Prison Time

Bank Robbery Suspect Tries To Shoot Joliet Police Officer: English