Joliet Carjackers Terrorize Pregnant Woman With Gun, 2 Arrested: Cops

JOLIET, IL — The Joliet Police Department announced that they captured a pair of carjackers — Louis Jones and his partner in crime Dakota Ulmer — following a terrifying incident on Joliet's west side that victimized a 32-year-old pregnant woman and her 13-year-old daughter. The carjackers

The pair of accused carjackers are both 18 years old, and they will remain in the Will County Jail facing charges of aggravated vehicular hijacking, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, aggravated battery, two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle, vehicle burglary and criminal trespass.

In one of his longest press releases he's written, Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English outlined the following events that led to the capture of both Jones and Ulmer early Thursday night.

Their crime spree began shortly after 6 p.m., according to English.

According to English, at 6:03 p.m., Joliet police responded to the 600 block of Darcy Avenue for a carjacking.

Officers learned that someone wearing a mask approached a pregnant 32-year-old woman and her 13-year-old daughter while both were outside. The criminal pressed a handgun into the stomach of the 32-year-old and demanded her money and keys to her car.

The victim gave him the keys to her Mazda CX9, and the carjacker drove off in the Mazda.

Less than 30 minutes later, the stolen Mazda was discovered by Joliet police SWAT parked in the rear of 1020 W. Jefferson St., occupied and running, with an interior light illuminated.

Officers saw the stolen Mazda heading to the 3100 block of West Jefferson Street, and the carjacker pulled into a business parking lot and collided into a parked truck. At that moment, the SWAT team captured Jones, the driver, and his passenger, Ulmer, English revealed.

Inside the stolen car, Joliet police found a loaded handgun on the passenger floorboard where Ulmer sat. Jones was searched and police found ammunition, a Link card belonging to the 32-year-old victim and a debit card belonging to the owner of the Ford Taurus that was subsequently determined to be stolen during another Thursday evening incident.

At the time of the arrests of Jones and Ulmer, English said that fellow officers learned about another stolen vehicle, this time from the parking lot of Stang Kelly Liquors, 712 W. Jefferson.

The Stang Kelly Liquors store crime happened first, at 5:48 p.m.

In that case, a woman parked her Ford Taurus and left the vehicle unlocked and running while she went into the store and realized her car was missing after exiting Stang Kelly Liquors.

Officers later learned the stolen Ford Taurus from Stang Kelly Liquors was involved in a crash at Hunter Avenue and Morgan Street. The car thief had veered off Hunter Avenue and crashed into a light pole, then hitting a Chevrolet Malibu parked in the street.

Joliet police say they later found surveillance footage showing Jones stealing the Ford Taurus from the Stang Kelly parking lot.

On top of all that, Joliet police received a number of delayed reports of burglarized motor vehicles from the 0-20 block of Manor Court and the 0-20 block of South Raynor Avenue. Joliet police say Jones and Ulmer committed those crimes, stealing "minor items" from all those vehicles.

And that's not all.

There was another attempted carjacking that Joliet police learned about after the fact.

That crime was in the 0-20 block of Blackman Avenue, where a masked gunman approached a 33-year man and demanded the keys to his Chevrolet Traverse while pointing a gun at him. When the car alarm was activated during this confrontation, the gunman ran off.

The Blackman Avenue incident occurred right around 6 p.m., English noted.

If anyone that lives in the general area where these crimes occurred have video or further information, Joliet police encouraged them to contact Sgt. Erik Payne at (815)955-8486.