Defendant Spit On Joliet Cop Days Before Miami Street Shooting: JPD

JOLIET, IL — Four days before his arrest by Will County Sheriff's deputies in connection with a shooting in the 500 block of Miami Street, Campbell Street resident Angel Santiago-Vargas got booked into the Will County Jail because he spit on a Joliet officer, prosecutors say.

The incident that led to Santiago-Vargas' Joliet police arrest late Sunday night on charges of aggravated battery and criminal trespass to real property happened at the Walgreens at 353 East Cass St., court documents show.

On June 10, Joliet police stated that Santiago-Vargas entered the Walgreens after receiving notice from the owner that his entry is forbidden. At the business, Santiago-Vargas made contact with Joliet police officer Juan Santiago "in that said defendant spit on Juan Santiago's face," the complaint states.

Santiago-Vargas got booked into the Will County Jail around 1 a.m. Monday and by late afternoon, he was freed after posting 10 percent of his $5,000 bail.

Around 11 p.m. on Tuesday, John Roy Hernandez Jr., 20, and his 21-year-old brother were involved in a non-fatal shooting in the 500 block of Joliet Township's Miami Street, according to sheriff's deputies.

The woman suffered two gunshot wounds and the man was not injured by the gunfire, Will County Sheriff's spokeswoman Kathy Hoffmeyer told Joliet Patch. The two were outside on their porch when Hernandez and Santiago-Vargas fired several gunshots at the couple, according to sheriff's reports.

The woman who was shot in her right elbow and the top of her right foot is in her 30s. Her injuries are not life-threatening. An East Joliet Fire Department ambulance rushed her to Silver Cross Hospital, where she was treated and released.

The bail for Hernandez and Vargas-Santiago was set at $1 million. The brothers live in the 500 block of Campbell Street and their house has been the target of numerous drive-by shootings in recent years, as Joliet Patch has previously reported.