3 inmates charged with attacking Will County jail inmate, knocking out one of his teeth

Three inmates at the Will County jail have been charged with an attack on a fourth inmate that caused him to lose a tooth and suffer cuts to his face, police said.

Sheriff’s deputies were called about 10:45 p.m. on Monday to the jail on 95 S. Chicago St., about a 33-year-old inmate who was hospitalized with injuries, according to Will County Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Kathy Hoffmeyer.

The inmate was in the detention facility’s dayroom when he was punched in the face and attacked on the ground by Dontavious Harvey, 23, of Dolton, Denarius Lofton, 20, of Markham, and Jacob Schraer, 23, of Joliet, Hoffmeyer said.

“The [three] inmates then picked up plastic chairs and a five-gallon water cooler and struck the victim several times while also kicking him,” Hoffmeyer said.

When deputies questioned Harvey, Lofton and Schraer about the incident, they refused to provide any information, Hoffmeyer said.

Prosecutors charged the three inmates with mob action and aggravated battery, court records show.

Harvey has been in jail since Dec. 18, 2019.

Harvey, Justin Brown, 22, of Steger, and Terwon Matthews, 23, of Chicago, were each indicted on charges of kidnapping a New Lenox man and an elderly woman in Frankfort and using their debit cards.

Police later found the woman and man unharmed, according to the sheriff’s office.

The cases for those three men remain pending in court.

Lofton has been in jail since Dec. 24, 2020, after he was charged with the May 3, 2020, aggravated robbery of cash and cigarettes of a person at a Mokena Circle K gas station.

Schraer has been in jail since Jan. 2, 2021. He was charged with possessing a handgun in Joliet after he was convicted of robbery and unlawful use of a weapon in two separate cases in Will County, court records show.