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4 guns recovered, 5 facing charges after running from police outside Joliet gas station

By FOX 32 Digital Staff
Published  October 20, 2022 1:26pm CDT
Joliet
FOX 32 Chicago
article

Clockwise from top left: Marquise Smith, Damarco Whitaker, Zyshonne Harris and Javiere Baker | Joliet police

JOLIET, Ill. - Five teens are facing charges after four loaded guns were recovered during a police foot chase Thursday evening near a Joliet gas station.

Joliet police officers were on patrol around 7:40 p.m. in the first block of McDonough Street when they say five males standing outside a convenience store wearing ski masks and dark clothing, police said.

The group scattered when police pulled into the parking lot with some of them grabbing at their waistbands, Joliet police said.

Police saw one of the males throw a handgun near a fence in the 400 block of South Ottawa Street, according to JPD. Officers later found the 16-year-old boy hiding in the 400 block of South Joliet Street, police said. He was taken into custody and his 9mm handgun was recovered.

More officers helped establish a perimeter around the scene and police found a suspect running in an alley in the 300 block of South Des Plaines Street. While running away, the suspect tripped and dropped a loaded 9mm handgun, police said.

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Zyshonne Harris, 18, was taken into custody. Police discovered the gun's serial number had been defaced.

Officers arrested 18-year-old Javiere Baker in the 300 block of South Joliet Street. A loaded 9mm handgun was found nearby and Baker relayed to officers that he dropped the firearm while running from police. Joliet police said further investigation revealed that handgun was reported stolen.

Damarco Whitaker, 19, was taken into custody by officers in the 400 block of South Joliet Street, police said.

Officers found 18-year-old Marquise Smith hiding in the bed of a pickup truck in the 400 block of South Des Plaines Street, police said.

Another loaded 9mm handgun was recovered by police from the 400 block of South Joliet Street, police said. It was not immediately clear to whom the gun belonged.

Joliet police announced the following charges:

  • Harris was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, defacing the identification mark of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, no FOID, and obstructing a peace officer.
  • Baker was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, possession of a stolen firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, no FOID, and obstructing a peace officer. 
  • The 16-ear-old boy was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of ammunition, no FOID and obstructing a peace officer.
  • Whitaker and Smith were both arrested and released on I-bonds for obstructing/resisting a peace officer.