$30K Bail For Homeless Man Who Lived At Empty Church's Chicken

JOLIET, IL — Herbert Brooks, the 57-year-old Joliet homeless man who is facing multiple criminal charges including public indecency and lewd conduct as well as disorderly conduct, was taken into custody by Joliet police officers Monday.

Bail for Brooks has been set at $30,000, according to jail records.

Joliet police have arrested Brooks several times during the past month, but this marks the first time Brooks ended up inside the Will County Jail.

According to court records, Brooks skipped out on several of his court hearings at the Will County Courthouse, prompting Will County's judges to issue a bench warrant for his arrest.

Brooks, who came to Joliet from Chicago, was booked into the county jail around 9:25 a.m. on Monday. He had been living on the sidewalk outside the empty Church's Chicken restaurant at Collins and Jackson Streets and his presence there drew outrage and complaints from nearby residents and business owners.

According to one of his criminal complaints, Brooks was standing on the public sidewalk on May 17 when he "knowingly exposed his sex organ in a lewd manner with the intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual desire of the defendant."

The disorderly conduct charge states that on May 30, Brooks urinated on a public sidewalk in such unreasonable manner as to alarm or disturb another person.

On June 15, Joliet Patch reported that Joliet police arrested Brooks at the 7-Eleven store at 1601 East Cass St., on charges of criminal trespass to property and criminal damage to property.

According to police, Brooks was inside the 7-Eleven "destroying items in the store and refusing to leave ... it was determined that Brooks had damaged over $200 worth of store product while becoming irate inside of the store and refusing to leave when told by staff."

In the 7-Eleven case, the Will County State's Attorney's Office has yet to file formal criminal charges against Brooks, a review of court records shows.