House Burglary Near Joliet West, Student's Car Faces Forfeiture

JOLIET, IL - A court hearing is set for July 10 to determine whether a 2006 Saturn Ion allegedly used as the getaway car for a house burglary across from Joliet West High School should become a forfeited asset for the police. The Will County State's Attorney Office has put the registered owner of the car, Tatiana Caruth as well as teenager Dtaviaye Eskridge on notice that the Saturn Ion may become the permanent property of the police.

Court documents indicate that Eskridge was responsible for a house burglary on March 30 in the 1800 block of Glenwood Avenue and that he used the 2006 Saturn Ion to commit his crime.

Two days later, on April 1, Joliet Police Officer Michael Pauly met with a woman who lived on Glenwood Avenue and she relayed that while she was on vacation, on March 30, her neighbor saw an older Saturn sedan "parked with two black males in it, across the street in the Joliet West parking lot … He observed the two black male subjects (approach her house) and enter through the garage," the forfeiture complaint states.

The neighbor called Joliet Police, but before the officers arrived, "the Saturn left the parking lot with one subject in it, and the other subject fled the area on foot," court documents note.

The burglary victim informed Joliet Police that $1,000 cash was missing from a sock drawer in her bedroom, but the bank envelopes were still in the drawer, "and only the cash taken," the complaint reads.

The woman provided Officer Pauly a possible suspect.

She later "related to police that her juvenile daughter was classmates with Dtaviaye Eskridge. She further related that she shared her garage code with one of Eskridge's friends on a previous date," court records state.

By April 4, Joliet Police Officer James Kilgore met with Detective Demetris Anderson, who is the Joliet West High School resource officer, "who transferred to him the video and images of the residential burglary suspects … Officer Kilgore did (observe) what appeared to be a green Saturn vehicle enter the Joliet West High School parking lot and two black male subjects exit the vehicle and approach (the house on Glenwood Avenue)," court documents reveal.

The forfeiture complaint indicates "one suspect appears to enter a code on the garage key pad and the garage door opens. After a brief period of time, one suspect emerges from the residence and re-enters the Saturn vehicle. After a few minutes, the resident (who lives nearby) starts to approach the green Saturn, and the vehicle flees the parking lot out of view of the surveillance camera."

The forfeiture complaint informs the Will County judicial system that the 2006 Saturn Ion "was used in the commission of a burglary in that the vehicle was used to transport Dtaviaye Eskridge to and from the location where the burglary took place."

The car in question was seized by Joliet Police on April 17 after other Joliet Police officer spotted Eskridge, 17, in the parking lot of the Speedway Gas Station on Jefferson Street with two other juveniles in the car with him.

"All subjects were released on juvenile contact forms," court documents show. "The registered owner, identified as Tatiana Caruth, arrived on scene and was advised that the vehicle was being seized."