Man, 38, Spat In Gas Station Employee's Face After Told To Leave: New Lenox PD

NEW LENOX, IL — A 38-year-old Danville man who'd been let out of Will County Jail just hours earlier was arrested in New Lenox on May 24, after allegedly spitting in the face of a gas station employee, according to police reports.

New Lenox police were called May 24 at 1:52 a.m. to Speedway, 939 S. Cedar Road, for a report of a battery. A store employee told police that Robert Skoglund had been in the business "for an extended period of time" and was asked to leave. Skoglund reportedly began yelling at the victim, and then spat in their face, according to police reports.

Police found Skoglund nearby. He was taken into custody and transported to the New Lenox Police Department. He was charged with battery, processed and released.

Three days prior, Skoglund was arrested in Joliet after police say he removed books from a free book exchange and set them on fire, Joliet Patch reported. Skoglund was charged with reckless conduct, obstructing justice and resisting a peace officer. A criminal complaint alleges that Skoglund recklessly set paper on fire that endangered the safety of the occupants at or near the Nowell Park Recreation Center in Joliet, Joliet Patch reported.

The disorderly conduct charge indicates that Skoglund was banging on the window of an unoccupied vehicle in such an unreasonable manner that he was alarming or disturbing a woman. The resisting a peace officer charge alleges that Skoglund resisted arrest by running from officers after being told he was not free to leave.

Skoglund was in Will County Jail from May 21-23; jail records show he was released May 23 at 1 p.m.