Homer Warren Charged With Panhandling: Police

JOLIET, IL - A 41-year-old Joliet man finds himself inside the Will County Adult Detention Center this Labor Day weekend after authorities say he broke the law by panhandling. Homer Warren, who lists an address in the 100 block of Jessie, was booked in the jail Sunday afternoon. Booking logs indicate he was arrested by the Will County Sheriff's Department.

Warren currently faces four misdemeanor criminal charges accusing him of being a pedestrian soliciting contributions on a highway. Jail logs indicate the offenses occurred on four different dates in June and July. Warren's bond was set at $15,000, meaning he must come up with $1,500, or 10 percent, to free himself while his case is pending at the Will County Courthouse. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

The highway in Will County where authorities say Warren was handling was not immediately available on Monday. However, Joliet Patch readers who read this story commented that Warren was a familiar face who frequently begs for money near the intersection of Briggs Street and Interstate 80, on Joliet's east side.

After the Joliet Patch article was published on Labor Day, another Facebook reader commented that Warren was her husband. "This is my husband Homer. He is the father of my children. He is in a bad place in his life," she wrote.

The woman asked online readers to please not judge Warren.

"He was a loving caring person," she posted on Facebook. "Sick or not he is my family ... We know he is an addict ... He needs prayers. He needs God. He has a family that loves him. He is a loved man."

Back in 2014, Joliet Patch wrote a story about Brian Davidson, a homeless man in Joliet, who won a court battle against the city of Joliet to gain permission to panhandle.

Booking mugshot via Will County Sheriff's Department