3 men charged with battery at Joe’s Beverage Warehouse in Joliet

Prosecutors have charged three men with attacking several people at Joe’s Beverage Warehouse in Joliet, and two of those men were released from jail with attempted murder charges.

On Aug. 26, prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against John Hernandez, 20, Angel Vargas, 21, and Corey Jones, 21, all of Joliet, that accused them of attacking several people Aug. 6 at Joe’s Beverage Warehouse, 3001 W. Jefferson St., Joliet.

Hernandez and Vargas won their release from the Will County jail about three weeks before the incident.

Judge Carmen Goodman granted their attorney’s request to lower their $1 million bonds in a case where both men were charged with the attempted murder of Hernandez’s father in a June 14 shooting in Joliet Township.

Hernandez was sent back to jail Aug. 25 after his arrest over the Joe’s Beverage Warehouse incident. Jones surrendered himself to police Thursday and was released from custody after posting a cash bond.

Joliet police Sgt. Dwayne English said Friday that Vargas has not yet been arrested as far as he knew.

The incident that led to the latest charges against the three men began at 11:40 p.m. Aug. 5. Officers responded to Joe’s Beverage Warehouse for a report of a retail theft, English said.

Officers learned multiple suspects attempted to walk out of the store with a bottle of tequila without paying for it, and one of them struck a store employee in the face when he confronted them, English said.

English said Vargas was the suspect who struck the store employee and two other employees before all three suspects fled the scene.

Prosecutors charged Hernandez with burglary and aggravated battery of a man at Joe’s Beverage Warehouse. Vargas and Jones were charged with aggravated battery of a second man and mob action, and Vargas was charged with battering a third man.