Ex-con shot by police charged with striking Joliet cop with vehicle

JOLIET — An ex-convict who was shot by police was charged with driving into an officer during a chaotic Nov. 16 drug arrest at a Joliet Wendy’s.

Prosecutors concluded no charges will be filed against the officers involved in the incident, according to Dan Jungles, executive director of the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force.

The task force investigated the police shooting of William Jenkins, 38, of Dolton.

On Monday, prosecutors charged Jenkins with the aggravated battery and aggravated assault of Joliet Police Officer Thomas Conroy, resisting arrest of Joliet Police Officer Terrence Gruber, criminal damage to government property and possession of a controlled substance.

Judge Art Smigielski signed a warrant for Jenkins’ arrest. The warrant carries a $1 million bond. Jenkins already has been in jail since Nov. 22 with his bond set at $1.5 million.

Prosecutors alleged Jenkins drove a vehicle at Conroy and struck him.

Prosecutors alleged Jenkins resisted Gruber’s arrest by pulling his hands away and not exiting his vehicle. Jenkins “put the vehicle into reverse and accelerated” and that resisting arrest was the “proximate cause of injury” to Gruber, prosecutors said.

Jungles said Gruber was hit by Jenkins’ vehicle.

Jungles said Tuesday the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force investigation of the incident is closed. He said all documents and evidence were thoroughly reviewed by Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow’s office.

Following the Nov. 16 incident, task force spokesman Ken Kroll said in a statement that officers tried to stop a vehicle in the parking lot of Wendy’s before the shooting.

Joliet police officials said the officers attempted to arrest Jenkins following an investigation that revealed he delivered cocaine to undercover agents on multiple occasions.

While officers tried to make the traffic stop, the driver, Jenkins, put his vehicle in reverse and struck an officer, pinning him between Jenkins’ vehicle and a police vehicle.

Assisting officers arrived on scene as the officer was struck by Jenkins’ vehicle, Kroll said. Jenkins attempted to run over the assisting officers as they arrived, he said.

“The assisting Joliet officers discharged their firearms, striking the suspect,” Kroll said.

Kroll said Jenkins was “hit with multiple bullets and/or bullet fragments.”

Kroll said the officer struck by the vehicle did not fire his weapon at Jenkins.

Following the Wendy’s incident, prosecutors charged Jenkins with three counts of delivery of a controlled substance. Jenkins delivered substances containing cocaine Oct. 5, Oct. 7 and Oct. 20.

Jenkins served time for burglary, residential burglary and attempted residential burglary, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records.