Tag Archives: Will County

Barricaded man shoots squad car then surrenders in Will County

Jan 16, 2017 | WLSAM Staff

(WILTON TOWNSHIP) A man who barricaded himself in a home Sunday fired a shot at a squad car before he surrendered to police in southwest suburban Wilton Township.

John Patrick Thomas has been charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm and was booked into the Will County Adult Detention Facility shortly before 7 p.m., according to the Will County sheriff’s office.

Earlier Sunday, deputies received a call of a despondent subject who had threatened his brother and father in the 13000 block of Kennedy Road in unincorporated Wilton Township, police said.

A Will County Forest Preserve officer arrived first at the scene, police said. Shots were fired and at least one bullet struck his squad car. He was able to retreat safely and called for assistance.

The Will County SWAT team negotiated with Thomas until he surrendered without incident, police said. He was scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

© Copyright 2017 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

Local Mom holds separated twin for first time

Oct 26, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

[van id=”health/2016/10/24/mom-holds-separated-twin-for-first-time-orig-mobile-tc.cnn”]

The moment came one week after the 27-hour surgery to separate Jadon and his brother Anias.
Mom holds separated twin for first time
By Wayne Drash, CNN
In what can best be described as a bundle of cuteness, Nicole McDonald held her son Jadon alone for the first time in what she calls “one of the most profound moments of my life.”
Mom grinned from ear to ear as she cradled the young boy Friday afternoon at a New York hospital, mesmerized by the gaze of his deep brown eyes. The precious moment came shortly after doctors removed Jadon’s breathing tube, and it came one week after the 27-hour surgery to separate Jadon and his brother Anias, 13-month-old twins who were born conjoined at the head.
Nicole clutched Jadon for two hours, cherishing every lasting second. She had told CNN before the surgery that holding her two boys was the thing she longed for most. “There’s nothing harder than watching your child cry and not being able to pick them up,” she had said. “To hear them cry and react to it in a motherly way is something I’m really excited for.”
Nicole took to Facebook on Sunday morning, describing to friends and family what it was like to finally hold Jadon.
“For over 13 months, I’ve dreamed of this moment,” she wrote. “I looked down at Jadon’s angelic face and saw him in a way I’d never seen him before. He whimpered for almost the whole two hours I held him because he had just been extubated, had the area under his scalp washed out and had been weaned from the good pain meds.
“But instead of wrapping my body around him in his bed, I wrapped my arms around him and rocked. One of the most profound moments of my life.”
Nicole’s husband, Christian McDonald, was away from the hospital when Nicole first held Jadon, and he rushed back to join. However, once he got there, the father decided Jadon was too upset and fragile to be held again, with so many wires hooked up to his tiny body.
“I was just happy Nicole got to hold him. She’s been longing to hold him since the day the twins were born,” Christian said. “That’s a very special moment for a mother to share.”
The McDonalds have yet to share that same moment with Anias, who is progressing slower than Jadon, but still doing well. Anias had suffered breathing issues, seizures and heart problems prior to the surgery, and doctors expected his recovery to take more time. Anias has suffered seizures since the surgery, but they have been held in check with medicine since Wednesday, officials said.
Both boys underwent a touch-up procedure to clean out incisions on their heads on Wednesday. Jadon and Anias were described as doing well after that procedure.
Dr. James Goodrich, considered the world’s leading neurosurgeon for what’s known as craniopagus surgery, led the operaton at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. It marked the 59th craniopagus surgery in the world since 1952.
Jadon and Anias have captured the hearts of millions across the world, ever since CNN broke the story about the twins’ surgery. The hashtag #JadonAndAnias emerged as a trend on social media as people shared their ordeal and clamored for more updates.
The parents continue to be overwhelmed and grateful for the support they’ve received around the globe. Since the surgery started, their GoFundMe page has swelled from some $50,000 to more than $280,000. The family has asked that anyone wanting to help the twins instead make a donation to a friend whose child is in need of a kidney transplant.

The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

Ex-attorney gets 30 years for soliciting ex-wife’s murder

Oct 20, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(JOLIET) A former Will County attorney has been sentenced to 30 years in prison following his conviction of soliciting the murder of his ex-wife.

Circuit Judge Daniel Rozak found 54-year-old Robert Gold-Smith guilty in March of solicitation of murder for hire.

Will County prosecutors say Gold-Smith offered to pay a fellow jail detainee to kill his ex-wife. Gold-Smith made the offer while he was being held on aggravated domestic battery charges involving his ex-wife.

A conversation between Gold-Smith and Brian McDaniel recorded at the jail was played during his bench trial. McDaniel also testified against Gold-Smith.

The domestic battery charges are pending. Also pending is a charge of communicating with a witness, which alleges Gold-Smith contacted McDaniel indirectly while the solicitation case was pending in an effort to sway his testimony.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Will County drug court to expand with grant funding

Sep 23, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) A new federal grant will expand the capacity of Will County’s drug court, bringing 35 to 40 new defendants into the program.

Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow and Will County Executive Larry Walsh announced the $300,000, three-year grant Thursday.

The drug court now handles about 75 non-violent defendants who are struggling with addiction to illegal narcotics and attempting to avoid felony criminal convictions. The special court has graduated more than 350 people whose criminal charges were dismissed after they completed the program.

Those allowed into the drug court program must remain drug free, submit to random drug tests, find employment, follow through with treatment and attend weekly drug court sessions.

The grant money comes from the U.S. Department of Justice’s 2016 Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Joliet man faces life in prison for fatal shooting

Sep 20, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(JOLIET) A Will County judge has convicted a Joliet man of first-degree murder for gunning down a man in an alley two years ago.

Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced that 31-year-old Aloysius Alexander was found guilty of shooting 59-year-old Johnny Lockhart in the alley behind Alexander’s home in December 2014.

Alexander also shot Lockhart’s son, Ledontia Lockhart, who survived and testified against Alexander.

Glasgow says Circuit Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes also found Lockhart guilty of aggravated battery with a firearm for shooting Ledontia Lockhart and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.

He faces life in prison when sentenced Dec. 2.

Alexander and two other men confronted Ledontia Lockhart over a $400 money order he had allegedly taken which belonged to the girlfriend of one of the men.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Police: Rainfall contributed to fatal Will County crash

Aug 29, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CUSTER PARK) Police said heavy rainfall played a role in a fatal head-on crash Saturday morning in southwest suburban Custer Park.

Cameron A. Latour, 18, was driving a Chevrolet Monte Carlo eastbound on Route 113 near West River Road in Custer Park when the car lost control and struck a westbound semi truck, according to the Will County coroner’s office and Illinois State Police. Custer Park is in unincorporated Will County, about 60 miles southwest of Chicago.

Illinois Sate Police Sgt. George Del Rio said the roads were wet and the Monte Carlo was likely traveling too fast for conditions.

Latour, who lived in Custer Park, was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:20 a.m., the coroner’s office said. A preliminary autopsy determined he died of multiple injuries he suffered in the crash.

The man driving the semi truck suffered minor injuries in the crash and was taken to Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee, police said.

No citations or charges were issued.

© Copyright 2016 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

Man Kills Wife, Walks Into Traffic

Oct 21, 2015 | WLS-AM Staff
By Nick Gale, WLS News
(PLAINFIELD, IL) The Will County Coroner has identified a Plainfield North High School teacher who police say was fatally stabbed by her husband.
Police found 47-year-old Susan Cunningham unresponsive inside her home Tuesday night. She was not breathing and had been stabbed several times. She was pronounced dead at an area hospital.
Cunningham taught physical education and health at Plainfield North High School. District officials say she had been with the school since 2006 and previously taught at Plainfield Central from 2002-2006. She had been on medical leave this year.
Police say after the stabbing,  46-year-old Craig Cunningham was fatally struck by a vehicle on I-55 just north of Route 126.
The Will County coroner’s office says he walked into traffic before he was hit.
@ 2015 WLS News 

Roadwork closes I-55 ramp in SW suburbs for two weekends

Apr 23, 2015 | WLSAM Staff

(CHANNAHON) Lanes on an Interstate 55 ramp in the southwest suburbs will be closed the next two weekends for road repairs.

Construction workers will be patching roadways, among other repairs, from Friday to Monday, April 27, then again from Friday, May 1 to Monday, May 4, the Illinois Department of Transportation said in a statement.

The work will shut down lanes on the southbound I-55 ramp leading to Arsenal Road, IDOT said. On both weekends, the closures will start at 9 p.m. Friday and last until 5 a.m. Monday.

Drivers should expect delays and allow extra time for travel, IDOT warned.

© Copyright 2015 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

Tumbling coach charged with sexual abuse of underage prostitute

Dec 30, 2014 |

(JOLIET)  A former west suburban tumbling coach is behind bars Tuesday after being charged with having sexual contact with an underage prostitute.

A Will County arrest warrant issued Friday charges Ray Saleh, 51, with aggravated criminal sexual abuse, patronizing a minor engaged in prostitution, and patronizing a prostitute, according to the Will County state’s attorney’s office.

Saleh was arrested about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to Naperville police.

The warrant carries a $500,000 bond and Saleh was being held in the Will County Adult Detention Facility. He is scheduled to appear in bond court at 9 a.m. Wednesday, according to prosecutors.

The victim, identified only as A.S., was older than 13 but younger than 17, when Saleh committed sexual acts with her, according to court documents.

Naperville police began investigating the case in September, according to Sgt. William Davis, a department spokesman.

Saleh, of Oswego, was a tumbling coach at ICE All-Star Cheer in Aurora. A spokeswoman for the company said Tuesday that he has been fired.

© Copyright 2014 Sun-Times Media, LLC

State appeals court: Reporter will not have to disclose source

Dec 16, 2014 |

(Chicago)  A reporter previously held in contempt of court while covering a grisly Joliet double-homicide will not have to disclose his source, a state appeals court ruled Monday.

The court reversed the September 2013 decision of a Will County judge to find Patch.com reporter Joseph Hosey in contempt for not revealing how he acquired detailed reports of the stranglings of Eric Glover and Terrance Radkins, the Sun-Times is reporting.

The contempt order and fines lobbied against Hosey were also vacated, the court ruled.

In August 2013, a Will County judge ordered Hosey to turn over all of his documents relating to the January 2013 killings of Glover and Rankins. If the material did not reveal the source, Hosey would have to sign a sworn statement, telling who have gave him the records, when and how, the judge said.

The bodies of Glover and Rankins, both of Joliet, were found Jan. 10 in the Hickory Street home of Alisa Massaro, who is charged in the murders along with Bethany McKee, Joshua Miner and Adam Landerman.

Hosey used police reports he obtained to write stories about the killings. McKee’s lawyers want to know who leaked the reports and asked the judge to require Hosey to be questioned under oath.

Hosey first exposed the salacious claims that Massaro and Miner had sex on the bodies of the victims.

In its opinion issued Monday, the state court also acknowledged the amicus curiae brief the Chicago Sun-Times and several dozen other media organizations filed in support of Hosey.

–Sun-Times

© Copyright 2014 Sun-Times Media, LLC

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