Joliet Man Jailed in Failed Bid to Stick Up Dollar Store: Cops

A Joliet man walked away empty-handed after sticking up the dollar store on Richards Street Thursday afternoon but still landed in jail after the cops tracked him down at his Elmwood Avenue home.

Devan Traylor, 21, has been convicted of two prior armed robberies and got out of prison less than two months ago.

In his latest escapade, Traylor convinced an unwitting woman to give him a ride to the Family Dollar store on Richards Street, police said. The woman reportedly stayed in the car while Traylor went inside.

Traylor plucked a bottle of deodorizer from a shelf and brought it up to the register, police said, but when the clerk started ringing him up he pulled a handgun on her demanded all the money.

The clerk hit the alarm and grabbed her cell phone. Traylor left the store without any of the money and got in the woman’s car.

The woman, completely unaware of what Traylor was up to, drove him away, police said. The clerk got the woman’s license plate number and the law was waiting for her when she arrived at her Mississippi Avenue home.

The woman only knew Traylor by his street name, “Domo,” police said, but officers were able to identify him through dollar store surveillance video. He was taken into custody at his residence, brought in for questioning and charged with attempted armed robbery.

Officers reportedly found the clothes Traylor wore to the stickup in a trash can outside his home. The gun remains missing.