Ex-Joliet housing official indicted on felony drug charge

A former commissioner for the Housing Authority of Joliet who has been arrested twice in Joliet is facing a felony drug charge and he has pleaded not guilty to the offense.

Robert Hernandez, 62, of Joliet made two separate court appearances Thursday in a case where he is charged with possession of a controlled substance in connection with his Jan. 26 arrest. A grand jury indicted him on that charge.

He was arraigned on that charge and pleaded not guilty.

Hernandez was not released from custody, but his attorney Jeff Tomczak said he is anticipating prosecutors will file a petition to keep him detained. A hearing over that issue may occur Friday.

Hernandez wore a green T-shirt and green pants when he first appeared before Will County Judge Matthew Bertani, who handled the court call in Judge Dave Carlson’s absence. Bertani then sent Hernandez’s case to Judge Vincent Cornelius as Bertani is Tomczak’s brother-in-law.

Cornelius said he was not “unfamiliar” with Hernandez himself, but neither prosecutors nor Tomczak requested a recusal. After Hernandez was arraigned, Cornelius said he realized it was up to him to assign this case to another judge.

Cornelius then assigned it to Carlson, who is the presiding judge of the felony division at the courthouse. Carlson will typically either assign cases to another judge or keep them in his courtroom.

Hernandez was arrested Jan. 26 but released from police custody after he was given a notice to appear in court. He was arrested again on Wednesday, but he was transported to jail after a brief hospital stay.

The events leading to the second arrest began when a Joliet police officer saw Hernandez driving a Jeep Altitude on South Reed Street and approaching West Jefferson Street, Joliet police Sgt. Dwayne English said.

Hernandez drove past and looked at a residence on South Reed Street, English said. A woman in the area had filed a protective order against Hernandez, who was not supposed to be within 1000 feet of the woman or her home.

The protective order accused Hernandez of watching her and her house, as well as engaging in criminal activity with her children.

The officer conducted a traffic stop on Hernandez’s Jeep Altitude and took him into custody. Officers searched Hernandez’s vehicle and found suspected crack cocaine and a glass pipe used for smoking drugs from the interior of the vehicle, English said.

The vehicle was towed from the scene.

Hernandez was arrested on probable cause of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and violation of an order of protection.

Hernandez was previously arrested Jan. 26 after officers conducting a traffic stop allegedly found crack cocaine inside of his Chrysler 200 vehicle in Joliet. The traffic stop was conducted as part of a search warrant for two phones from Hernandez.

Hernandez did appear in court Wednesday morning to answer a petition filed by prosecutors to keep his Chrysler 200 and $220 in cash in the custody of the Joliet Police Department.

A prosecutor had provided Will County Judge Theodore Jarz with details about the Jan. 26 arrest of Hernandez. Afterward, Jarz found probable cause for the seizure of the vehicle and cash and ordered those items to remain in police custody.

Hernandez is a former commissioner on the board of the Housing Authority of Joliet who has produced videos on his Facebook page regarding incidents in the city such as crashes, shootings and fires. He often has boasted of being the first person to publicize those incidents.

Hernandez also is the son of retired Joliet Police Lt. George Hernandez, who is believed to be the first Hispanic police officer in Joliet.

Hernandez has also been a frequent speaker at Joliet City Council meetings. In those meetings, Hernandez typically criticized city officials or supported others, such as former Joliet Mayor Bob O’Dekirk. He supported O’Dekirk’s bid for a third term in office last year.

In 2015, O’Dekirk had recommended the appointment of Hernandez to the Housing Authority of Joliet board and his father to the Joliet Board of Police and Fire Commissioners. Hernandez was on the housing authority board between 2015 and 2019, when he resigned because of what he said were health issues.

O’Dekirk has also represented Hernandez in two traffic cases, one that was filed last year and in 2014, court records show. Those cases concluded with the citations being dismissed.

Hernandez had previously served on the board between 1991 and 1995, according to his biography on the housing authority’s website.