WCSO Press Releases

Will County Coroner, Patrick O'Neil, has notified the Will County Sheriff's Office that the deceased subject that was discovered yesterday, June 22nd, on Manhattan-Monee Road in Green Garden Township, is a male individual.  The cause of death is multiple gun shot wounds.  The body was badly decomposed and remains unidentified.  His ethnicity has not been determined.  He was wearing Clarks brand sandles size 8 1/2, red shorts, a men's Burberry watch on his left wrist and a gold ring on his right ring finger that is believed to depict St. Jude.  He is approximately   5' 3" tall with a 32" waist. 

Sheriff's detectives are actively investigating this case and are asking the public to contact the Sheriff's Office Investigations Division if anyone can help in identifying this man or has information pertaining to his murder.

Please call 815-727-8574 with any information.  -end-

Shortly after 2:00pm today the Sheriff's Dispatch Center received a call from an employee of the Will County Highway Department who stated that while cutting grass along Manhattan-Monee Road they discovered a deceased person.  The body was in a ditch along Manhattan-Monee Road, west of Harlem Avenue, in Green Garden Township.  The body appears to have been there for some time and cannot be identified. 

At this time the Will County Sheriff's Office Crime Scene Investigators are on the scene.  The Will County Coroner's Office has been notified.  The roadway in that area is closed and will remain closed until deputies have completed their investigation.   No further information is available at this time. 

If anyone has any information please call the Will County Sheriff's office at 815-727-8575.

-end-

Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley is announcing the arrest of Sean Fields, age 31, of Frankfort.  The Sheriff's Office Investigation Division was contacted in March by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children with a tip concerning an IP address that contained thousands of child pornography images.  After a thorough investigation, detectives determined that the pornography was downloaded from a residence in Frankfort Township.

Yesterday, detectives executed a search warrant at 7541 W. Inverness Lane in Frankfort and spoke with Fields about his use of the specific IP account.  Fields cooperated with detectives and made statements incriminating himself.  He was taken into custody without incident and was charged with two counts of possession of child pornography.  He will appear in bond court tomorrow. -end-

WILL COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE RECOGNIZES “THE BEST OF THE BEST”

PRESS RELEASE

May 26th, 2017

Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley recognized 36 members of the department for going above and beyond their normal duties at last night’s annual Awards Banquet held at the Jacob Henry Mansion, Joliet. Over 125 people were in attendance including award recipients, their families, co-workers, and elected officials. Sheriff Kelley also read the names of the nine staff members who have honorably served the department for 20 years and the two members who have served over 25 years. Fifteen staff have also retired in the past year and some were in attendance to be recognized.

Other awards included fourteen Life Saving Awards, a Meritorious Service, four Distinguished Service, three Civilian Service Awards, two Supervisory Excellence Awards, and the Auxiliary Deputy of the Year and Auxiliary Supervisor of the Year. Joliet Police Detective Tizoc Landeros was presented with an Appreciation Award for his assistance to the Sheriff’s Investigation Division in securing a confession from a homicide suspect.

The evening was culminated by awards given to Julie Murnane, Telecommunicator of the Year; Kathleen Zacharias, Civilian of the Year; Correctional Sergeant Adrienne Knazze, Correctional Supervisor of the Year, Correctional Deputy of the Year, Jerry Outlaw; Supervisor of the Year, Lt. Steve Talmontas, and Deputy of the Year, Jeff Jerz.

Sheriff Kelley stated, “I could not be more proud to be a part of this department. This event highlights the best of the best police department around. It is a pleasure and an honor to recognize these fine men and women for their exemplary achievements and continued efforts in improving the Sheriff’s Office and in keeping our citizens safe.”

“On behalf of the command staff, and the entire Will County Sheriff’s Office staff, we congratulate each and every award recipient that we are honoring tonight.”

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As summer kicks off and travel increases, the Will County Sheriff's Office is partnering with the Illinois Department of Transportation to remind motorists to Click It or Ticket.  The national seat belt enforcement campaign will take place May 22 through June 4th, concurrent with one of the busiest travel and holiday weekends of the year. 

"Our law enforcement personnel see firsthand the loss of life when people refuse to buckle up," said Traffic Sgt. Kyle Lakomiak.  "It's such a simple thing, and it should be an automatic response when you get into a vehicle.  As the Memorial Day weekend approaches and the summer vacation season ramps up, we want to make sure people are doing everything they can to stay safe in the unfortunate event of a crash."

The most recent crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that 43% of passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2015 were unrestrained.  That percentage increases to 57% when looking at crashes between 6pm and 6am. That's why one focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign is nighttime enforcement.  Participating police agencies will be taking a No Excuses approach.  Violators will be given a ticket.

Seat belts save lives and every vehicle occupant - front seat and back, child and adult - needs to remember to buckle up, every trip, every time.  Together, we can make zero fatalities a reality in Illinois.

For more information on the Click It or Ticket campaign, visit buckleupillinois.org

-end-

Last night, (5/8/17) at 8:20pm, the Will County Sheriff's Gang Suppression Unit arrested three subjects after a traffic stop was performed on a vehicle that they observed crossing over the center line on three occasions.  Deputies made the stop in the area of Monee-Manhattan Road near the intersection of Harlem Avenue, Green Garden Township.

The driver, Jorge Vargas-Moreno, age 31, of 5436 S. Sawyer in Chicago, appeared nervous and was trembling as deputies were speaking with him.  He was asked to get out of the vehicle, along with his two passengers;  Bulmaro Castelan-Diaz, age 35, of 5946 S. Paulina in Chicago and Yolanda Tavira-Berrum, age 22, of 1017 Third Street in LaSalle, IL.

Sheriff's K-9, Roxy, was brought to the scene and conducted a sniff search where he hit positive for narcotics in the rear trunk area of the car.  A search of the trunk yielded 20 kilos of wrapped bricks containing cocaine.  Street value:  $1,125,000.00

Sheriff's deputies took the three subjects into custody where they were charged with unlawful delivery of a controlled substance.  They will appear in bond court today at 1:30pm.     -end-

*4 photos attached

Photo of Castelan-Diaz - hair standing up on head                                                                       Photo of Vargas-Moreno - hair combed forward

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