5 Men Charged in Early Saturday Home Invasion, Armed Robbery Case

Five men between the ages of 17 and 25 were arrested and charged with home invasion and armed robbery following an incident early Saturday morning on South Park Road in Joliet Township, according to Will County Sheriff's police.

Rodney G. Parks, 22, of the 1500 block of Fairmount Avenue in Joliet; Darius Strong, 25, of the 7100 block of South Yates Avenue in Chicago; Deathray Anderson, 22, of the 100 block of Richardson Avenue in Joliet; Elijah Watson, 17, of the 100 block of Wallace Street in Joliet; and Mitchell M. Thompson, 18, of the 1600 block of 5th Avenue in Joliet were taken into custody, according to sheriff's police. All five are at the Will County Adult Detention Facility awaiting their first court appearances scheduled for Monday (March 18).

Parks, Strong and Anderson are currently on parole, according to the Will County Sheriff's police.

"Today at approximately 3:30 a.m., Will County Sheriff's Police were called to a residence in the 100 block of South Park Road, Joliet Township, regarding an armed robbery," Will County Sheriff's Office spokesman Ken Kaupas stated in a news release. "Initial reports indicate that a small party was under way when four unknown African-American men entered the residence.

"All four were described as wearing dark clothing. Shortly thereafter, all four of the men covered their faces with either scarves or masks and two of the four produced guns and began to rob the party goers of their valuables, including wallets, cell phones and money. All four men fled from the residence on foot. None of the victims were hurt."

Will County Sheriff's Police—working with the Joliet Police Department—traced the suspects to a residence in the 100 block of South East Circle Drive, Joliet Township and were able to apprehend them, Kaupas said.

"A search of the residence located what investigators believe to be the two weapons used during the earlier robbery on South Park Road," Kaupas stated. "Other items recovered appear to match items taken from the victims."

Kaupas said the Will County Sheriff's Office also is investigating whether the five subjects arrested may be responsible for an armed robbery on March 12, 2013, at Mac's Tap, located at 607 Algonquin, Joliet Township, where four male subjects entered the tavern with masked faces and weapons.

He said the Joliet Police Department is looking into today's arrest to see if this group may be responsible for any open armed robbery investigations in their jurisdiction.