Nasty Joliet Crash Involved Repeat Drunk Driver Billy Ray Jones

JOLIET, IL - Billy Ray Jones, a repeat drunk driver, has remained in the Will County Jail after being arrested by the Joliet Police Department following a horrendous crash on Essington Road Saturday night that left another motorist badly injured. According to the criminal complaint, the 48-year-old Jones, who lives in the 2500 block of Joliet's Lockner Boulevard, faces four felony charges of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol. One of the counts alleges that the blood-alcohol concentration for Jones was at least two times above the state's legal limit of 0.08.

Two of the crimes accuse Jones of third-offense drunken driving. The other two accuse him of causing serious bodily harm to the other motorist.

Jones has two prior drunken driving convictions, the Will County complaint states.

On March 10, according to Joliet Police, Jones was driving his blue Ford F-250 pickup truck on Essington Road, and he was involved in a collision that left a woman badly injured. The complaint states the victim suffered "great bodily harm or permanent disability or disfigurement."

A Joliet Patch reader who captured photos of the crash said the wreck at Caton Farm Road and Essington occurred around 10 p.m., perhaps a little earlier. It was his understanding the Joliet man's truck blew the red light on Essington and struck the small white four-door car. Jones was not hurt in the crash.

The complaint notes that Jones has a prior drunken driving conviction out of DuPage County from 1991 as well as a 1993 drunken driving conviction also out of DuPage County.

A Will County judge has ordered Jones to remain incarcerated at the county jail on a $750,000 bail. That means Jones needs to come up with $75,000 cash to post bond.

As of Wednesday night, that has not happened.

The following dramatic photos, as well as the main photo in this article, were captured by the reader in the area of Essington Road on Saturday night. The reader reached out to Patch and offered to let us publish these photos with their permission.

Crash images provided to Joliet Patch with permission to use

Mugshot of Billy Jones via Will County Sheriff's Department