Walmart Incident Leads To Joliet Man's Felony Arrest: Cops

JOLIET, IL — A 52-year-old Joliet man who lives in the 800 block of Plainfield Road was put in the Will County Jail last week following an outburst inside the Walmart store in the 2400 block of West Jefferson Street, authorities said.

The incident that led to the filing of aggravated battery charges against Frank Barefield happened back on March 19, according to police reports. Around 4:20 p.m. that day, officers learned of a disturbance inside the Walmart.

"Officers determined that Barefield had verbally berated an employee near the front service counter while attempting to make a return," police spokesman Dwayne English indicated. "Once told that he could not make the return, Barefield spit in the face of an employee and began calling them names."

Barefield ran out of the store before Joliet squad cars got to the scene, police reports show.

On April 22, Joliet police obtained a warrant to arrest Barefield on an aggravated battery charge and a Will County judge set bail at $50,000.

Then last Tuesday afternoon, Joliet police spotted Barefield standing near the street corner of Cass Street and Eastern Avenue and officers took him into custody for the warrant.

Barefield remained in the Will County Jail on Sunday, unable to post his bond.