Driver shot after pinning Joliet police officer against another car

Joliet police officers opened fire on a driver who drove at them and pinned one against another vehicle during a traffic stop Tuesday afternoon, police said.

A source identified the driver as ex-convict William Jenkins.

Jenkins, 38, was released from prison May 24, records show.

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

Jenkins resided in Dolton, county jail records show.

The officers pulled the car over and into the parking lot of the North Center Street Wendy’s shortly after 3:30 p.m., police said.

During the traffic stop, the driver “struck and pinned an officer between two vehicles,” according to a statement released by the Joliet Police Department.

“Assisting officers on the scene discharged their weapons, striking the suspect,” police said. “Both the officer and suspect have been transported to local hospitals. The condition of the suspect is unknown at this time.”

A police source said Jenkins was injured by metal and glass and underwent minor surgery.

Police said the injured officer was stable about an hour after the incident.

The Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force was called in to investigate the matter, according to police.

Shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday, Romeoville Police Chief Ken Kroll, the major crimes task force spokesman, said he had yet to receive information about the incident, but planned to speak with task force commanders later in the evening.

The major crimes task force was already investigating a recent police shooting.

Just 10 days before the Joliet police shot a man outside the Center Street Wendy’s, deputies with the Will County Sheriff’s Office shot and killed a man at a residence in Joliet Township.

Deputies were dispatched to a home on Middletree Road in Joliet Township after a 911 caller told a dispatcher his 21-year-old brother was armed with a knife and threatening their grandfather, according to a statement released by the sheriff’s office.

Deputies arrived soon after and saw the 21-year-old grandson, Jabbar Muhammad, “brandishing a knife and threatening his grandfather,” identified as 70-year-old Eldred Wells, police said.

The deputies attempted to calm Muhammad and ordered him to put the knife down, police said, but he “lunged at his grandfather with the knife, stabbing Eldred in the neck.”

The deputies opened fire and shot Muhammad “several times,” according to police, but he “continued to stab his grandfather in the neck.”

The deputies then shot Muhammad some more, police said.

In the days after the Middletree Road incident, Kroll said the task force was to review body cam footage from the deputies and meet with representatives of the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office.