Trouble At Shell Gas Station, Joliet Man Swings Car Door Open, Pops Woman With Fist: Prosecutors Reveal

JOLIET, IL — A 35-year-old Joliet man is now being kept inside the Will County Jail following his latest Joliet Police Department arrest, this time in connection with allegations of domestic violence. This month, the Will County State's Attorney's Office charged Michael Ritchey with four crimes of domestic battery.

These days, Ritchey resides off McDonough Street, in the 500 block of East Bellarmine Drive and that's where his arrest happened. According to the prosecution's petition to deny Ritchey his pretrial release, the Joliet police were called to East Bellarmine on April 30 for a domestic. A woman at the scene said she was punched in the face by her roommate while at the nearby Shell Gas Station at 401 South Larkin Avenue.

The woman alerted the officers that Ritchey punched her in the face by the gas pumps. The woman had an injury to her lip, court documents reflect. Joliet police spoke with one of the employees at the Shell station, and he indicated there was an argument between the two inside the gas station and Ritchey hit the woman in the shoulder with his elbow. The woman then pushed Ritchey and Ritchey went outside of the store.

"Camera footage shows Ritchey exit and (the woman) follow to his car. (She) tries to open the passenger door and then walks around where Ritchey swings the door open and strikes (her) with a fist," prosecutors pointed out.

Will County's prosecutors pointed out in their petition to deny pretrial release for Ritchey that his criminal history goes back more than 20 years, to his days as a juvenile.

Ritchey has a pending retail theft crime in Will County from late December, a 2025 burglary from Whiteside County and more pending cases in Will County from 2025 including criminal trespass, failure to register as a sex offender, a 2023 delivery of methamphetamine, a 2021 failure to register as a sex offender/second offense. His past convictions include a 2019 DUI from Cook County, a 2020 failure to register as a sex offender in Will County, a 2019 domestic battery, a 2018 failure to register as a sex offender, a 2018 domestic battery and a 2004 assault as a juvenile.

Meanwhile, while Ritchey has been in the Will County Jail, the Will County Sheriff's Office just filed a different criminal complaint charging Ritchey and co-defendant Christine Yanchenko with unlawful possession of methamphetamine, of 15 to 100 grams, back on March 9.