Mace Sprayed Into Pace Driver's Eyes In Joliet: Police

JOLIET, IL — Natasha Bradford, a 29-year-old Joliet woman, is now in the Will County Jail after she sprayed a can of Mace into the eyes of a Pace bus driver late Monday morning in the 1500 block of Theodore Street, according to Joliet police.

Bradford ran from the bus before Joliet police cars arrived at the scene, however, Joliet police located her getting off another Pace bus several hours later, according to police. Bradford was booked into the Will County Jail at 4:51 p.m. on charges of aggravated battery.

Joliet police were sent Theodore Street and Heiden Avenue around 11 a.m. after learning someone sprayed Mace into the face of a Pace bus driver.

"Officers determined that a passenger on the bus, later identified as Bradford, was causing a disturbance by yelling and swearing at the bus driver," police spokesman Dwayne English announced. "Bradford continued to cause a disturbance on the bus and refused to sit down when directed by the driver."

The Pace driver stopped the bus in the 1500 block of Theodore Street, and that's when "Bradford sprayed the driver with an unknown substance, which caused the driver’s eyes to burn and caused breathing issues. Bradford then fled the bus," Joliet police reports show.

Paramedics with the Joliet Fire Department treated the bus driver at the scene.

Less than four hours later, Joliet police arrested Bradford at a parking lot near the Louis Joliet Mall after learning she was getting off a different Pace bus. At the time of the arrest, Joliet police officers recovered a can of mace from Bradford, Sgt. English noted.

Bradford lives in the apartment units in the 300 block of North Broadway Street, jail logs show.