127 Walmart Thefts On Jefferson St., 528 Joliet Police Calls

JOLIET, IL — The Joliet Police Department opens an average of 11 new criminal investigations every month involving a theft from the Walmart at 2424 West Jefferson St. This year, Joliet police have responded to a total of 528 calls for service as of Dec. 9, a Joliet Patch analysis has learned.

Through the first 11 months of 2020, Joliet police had investigated 121 separate thefts from the West Jefferson Street Walmart store and another six crimes through the first nine days of December. Joliet Patch obtained the calls for service data from the Joliet Police Department through a recent Freedom of Information Act request to the police department.

Patch made the request after noticing a significant number of Joliet police arrests being made throughout the year at 2424 West Jefferson St., the store's address.

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In many cases, people caught shoplifting are charged with a misdemeanor offense and they get released on their own recognizance following a compliance ticket. However, people accused of stealing more than $500 worth of merchandise are typically charged with felonies, and many of those defendants wind up inside the Will County Jail.

Joliet Patch has also written stories throughout the year of employees at the Walmart store being hauled away in handcuffs in connection with allegations of stealing merchandise from their own employer.

On Nov. 11, Joliet Patch wrote about 39-year-old Joliet Walmart employee Jeremy Young, 39, who was arrested at his place of work in connection with felony theft charges.

On Nov. 30, Patch wrote about the felony arrest of 50-year-old Michigan resident Craig Albright, who Joliet police say tried to steal a television set. Albright was hauled away in handcuffs by Joliet police after pulling out a knife inside the Walmart store on West Jefferson Street and threatening to harm one of the workers, according to police.

The Joliet Walmart calls for service data obtained by Patch did not include the names of people arrested for criminal activity. Rather, Joliet Patch was mainly interested in learning how often Joliet police are summoned to the Walmart store and for what reasons.

Occasionally, officers are summoned to investigate a Walmart parking lot hit-and-run of an unattended vehicle. And there were several instances of people losing their wallet and other items of personal property on the Walmart premises or being locked out of their vehicle. Often, Joliet police are called to investigate a complaint of an unknown suspicious person or car on the property and by the time police show up, that person is gone, the data shows.

In any case, here's a rundown of the Joliet Police Department's most frequent calls to the West Jefferson Street between Jan. 1 and Dec. 9, 2020.

Only calls that led to the filing of a full police report are published in this article.

JANUARY: 12 separate theft cases investigated by Joliet police

10 retail theft reports: Jan 4, Jan. 6, Jan. 10, Jan. 13, Jan. 15 (two separate reports taken at same time), Jan. 18, Jan. 27, Jan. 29, and Jan. 31.
1 crime categorized as theft under $500: Jan. 18
1 crime categorized as theft over $500: Jan. 17
Other noteworthy crimes/police calls: an assault on Jan. 16, battery on Jan. 25, solicitor complaint Jan. 31, remove unwanted person from property: Jan. 1, Jan. 31.

FEBRUARY: 12 separate theft cases investigated by Joliet police

9 retail theft reports: Feb. 1, Feb. 4, Feb. 8 (two separate reports hours apart), Feb. 11, Feb. 16, Feb. 21, Feb. 25 and Feb. 29.
2 crimes categorized as theft under $500: (2) Feb. 6, Feb. 8
1 crime categorized as theft over $500: (1) Feb. 28
Other noteworthy crimes/police calls: Arson incident Feb. 17, remove unwanted person from property Feb. 13.

MARCH: 14 separate theft cases investigated by Joliet police

12 retail theft reports: March 1, March 2, March 4 (two separate reports taken at same time, plus another report several hours later), March 5, March 8, March 9, March 14, March 16, March 28 (two separate reports taken hours apart),

2 crimes categorized as thefts under $500: March 1, March 19

Other noteworthy crimes/police calls: armed robbery March 15, domestic battery March 7, criminal trespass March 25, solicitor complaint March 15, remove unwanted person from property: March 5, March 7, March 16 and March 25.

APRIL: 6 separate theft cases investigated by Joliet police

4 retail theft reports: April 3, April 15, April 19, April 22,
2 crimes categorized as thefts under $500: April 23, April 29
Other noteworthy crimes/police calls: assault on April 7, domestic battery April 22, remove unwanted person on April 14, April 17 and April 20.

MAY: 8 separate theft cases investigated by Joliet police

4 retail theft reports: May 1, May 2, May 3, May 21.
1 crime categorized as thefts under $500: May 31
3 crimes categorized as thefts over $500: two from May 5 at same time, one May 9.
Other noteworthy crimes/police calls: disorderly conduct May 15 and May 20.

JUNE: 11 separate theft cases investigated by Joliet police

9 retail theft reports: June 5 (two separate reports taken hours apart), June 8, June 10, June 14, June 22, June 24, June 27, June 28

1 crimes categorized as theft under $500: June 3

1 crime categorized as theft over $500: June 4

No other noteworthy crimes/police calls for service

JULY: 4 separate theft cases investigated by Joliet police

3 retail theft reports: July 18, July 26, July 27.

1 crime categorized as theft under $500: July 31

Other noteworthy crimes/police calls: solicitor complaints July 5, July 24, remove unwanted person from property: July 5, July 16.

AUGUST: 11 separate theft cases investigated by Joliet police

AUG. 7 retail theft reports: Aug. 11, Aug. 12 (two separate reports taken hours apart), Aug. 15, Aug. 22, Aug. 26 and Aug. 31.

3 crimes categorized as thefts under $500: Aug. 12, Aug. 14 and Aug. 29.

1 crimes categorized as theft over $500: Aug. 10

Other noteworthy crimes/police calls: Gunshots fired/heard on Aug. 24, obstructing justice resisting a police officer arrest Aug. 2, criminal property damage on Aug. 21, remove an unwanted person Aug. 20.

SEPTEMBER: 13 separate theft cases investigated by Joliet police

12 retail theft reports: Sept 2, Sept. 3, Sept. 5, Sept. 6, Sept. 7, Sept. 15, Sept. 19, Sept. 21 (three separate reports taken all hours apart), Sept. 25 (two separate reports taken hours apart),

1 crimes categorized as theft under $500: Sept. 20

Other noteworthy crimes/police calls: identity theft crime Sept. 15, domestic battery Sept. 17, battery Sept. 21, solicitor complaint Sept. 12.

OCTOBER: 13 separate theft cases investigated by Joliet police

11 retail theft reports: Oct. 6, Oct. 8, Oct. 10, Oct. 18, Oct. 19, Oct. 23, Oct. 25, Oct. 26, Oct. 27, Oct. 28, Oct. 29,

1 crime categorized as theft under $500: Oct. 20

1 crimes categorized as theft over $500: Oct. 4

Other noteworthy crimes/police calls: criminal property damage Oct. 28 and domestic battery on Halloween.

NOVEMBER: 17 separate theft cases investigated by Joliet police

12 retail theft reports Nov. 2, Nov. 10, Nov. 14 (two separate reports taken at same time), Nov. 15, Nov. 18, Nov. 19, Nov. 21, (two separate reports taken hours apart), Nov. 28, Nov. 29, Nov. 30

2 crimes categorized as thefts under $500: Nov. 7, Nov. 8
3 crimes categorized as thefts over $500: Nov. 2, 2 separate reports taken that day, Nov. 10

Other noteworthy crimes/police calls: aggravated fraud/government entity Nov. 28, heroin overdose Nov. 24, battery Nov. 30, remove unwanted person from property Nov. 25, suspicious incident report taken Nov. 22, disorderly conduct Nov. 12.

DECEMBER: 6 separate theft cases investigated by Joliet police

4 retail theft reports (data through Dec. 9), Dec. 3, (two separate reports taken hours apart), Dec. 5, Dec. 6,

2 crime categorized as theft under $500: (separate reports taken hours apart on Dec. 7).

Other noteworthy crimes/police calls: battery Dec. 4.

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