Year ends with bank robbery, car burglary

An 18-year-old man allegedly ended the year by robbing a Joliet bank.

According to police, at 11:10 a.m. Dec. 31 Arus L. Woods came into Merchants and Manufacturers Bank, 601 E. Cass St.

"The suspect appeared to have a handgun wrapped in a shopping bag and pointed the handgun at the employees," police said.

After the tellers gave him money from the drawers, the robber ran out and was last seen going behind a building in the next block to the west.

No one was injured and a holdup alarm was activated.

A canine unit arrived and tracked a scent to the back door of a residence in the 500 block of Cass Street. Officers set up a perimeter around the residence and were later given consent to search inside.

After Woods was taken into custody, police allegedly found proceeds from the robbery "hidden inside a wall."

Woods was arrested on a charge of robbing a financial institution and booked into the Will County jail.

An alleged car burglar reportedly broke into a vehicle in front of the Joliet police chief Dec. 31.

Courtney L. Jones, 41, of the 1300 block of Ashford Lane, was arrested on charges of burglary to a motor vehicle and possession of drug equipment.

According to reports, at 2:24 p.m. Chief Al Roechner was near Walgreens, 2101 W. Jefferson St. when he saw a man "walk up to a vehicle parked in the lot, open the passenger door and rummage" around inside.

"Jones then quickly closed the door and started running northbound through a nearby field," police said.

Roechner called other officers to the scene and Jones was detained in the next block. Jones was allegedly carrying items that had been taken from the parked car.