6 Domestic Battery Charges After Jefferson Street Disturbance: JPD

JOLIET, IL — A 36-year-old Chicago man who Joliet police say spent two hours beating and holding a woman captive in her house in the 800 block of West Jefferson Street, is now in the Will County Jail following a disturbance at the Tobacco Plus in Marycrest, arrest reports show.

On Saturday night, Vernon Williams was booked into the Will County Jail on six charges of domestic battery and one count of interfering with the reporting of domestic violence. In addition to that, Joliet police gave him a notice to appear in court on unrelated charges stemming from the Tobacco Plus store incident, charges of criminal trespass and resisting arrest.

The original incident that led to the half dozen charges of domestic battery took place around 1:15 a.m. back in November.

According to Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English:

• Officers responded to an apartment in the 800 block of West Jefferson Street for a domestic disturbance in the middle of the night on Nov. 18. Williams went to the woman's apartment and entered by force.
• Police indicated that Williams was intoxicated and yelling at the victim when he grabbed the victim’s hair, pulled her to the floor, and began repeatedly punching her in the face.
• A short time later, Williams dragged the victim into another room and threw her upon a couch.
• Arrest reports show that Williams continued to attack the woman over the span of two hours. When the victim tried to call a family member, Williams smacked the phone out of her hand. Eventually, Williams ran off, and Joliet police did not find him in November.

By Dec. 11, Joliet police obtained the arrest warrant for Williams and then over the weekend, they found him, all because of a disturbance inside the Tobacco Plus, 2010 Jefferson Street, in the Marycrest shopping center.

• Around 8 p.m. on Saturday, Joliet police learned that a customer who turned to be Williams was causing trouble with an employee at the tobacco store.
• Joliet police asked Williams to exit the store, and he ignored them and continued to yell at the employee, arrest reports show.
• "Officers attempted to escort Williams from the store, at which time he began to struggle with officers and continued to ignore commands," English noted. "Following this brief struggle, Williams was placed into custody without further incident."

At the time of the arrest, Joliet police realized Williams had the warrant for the half dozen domestic battery charges from Nov. 18.