Crime & Safety

Drug Bust Helps Cops Recover Stolen County Gun Used in Murder

Vincent Robinson led police to the weapon -- stolen from a county police sergeant -- that had been used in six crimes, including a homicide, Will County Deputy Chief Ken Kaupas said.

A Joliet drug raid Tuesday night yielded not just a cannabis trafficking arrest but a stolen Will County-issued handgun used in a Joliet homicide and several other crimes this summer, Will County Deputy Chief Ken Kaupas said.

Will County Sheriff's Gang Suppression Unit members and county detectives executed a search warrant at 7:30 p.m. on the 214 Parks Ave. home of Vincent E. Robinson, 47, Kaupas said. There, officers recovered more than 30 grams of cannabis, a small amount of suspected cocaine and drug paraphernalia.

The bigger find, however, was a Will County-issued .40-caliber Glock handgun that had been stolen in a June 12 break-in at the home of a Will County Sheriff's Office correctional sergeant, Kaupas said. 

In the week after the burglary, Zeeshan Rashid, 18, of Joliet, was accused of using the stolen gun to kill Adrian Resendiz, 18, of Joliet, shoot two men in the 600 block of Algonquin Avenue in unincorporated Joliet and carry out two armed robberies in Joliet. Spent shells recovered at the shooting scenes matched the stolen gun and ammunition stolen from the sergeant's house. 

The gun was not recovered when Rashid was arrested.

“Our detectives never gave up on locating the stolen gun," Kaupas said in a statement on Robinson's arrest and the recovery of the weapon.

"They recently developed information that Robinson may have knowledge regarding the whereabouts of the handgun used in a shooting incident in Joliet Township, as well as a homicide in the City of Joliet, both of which occurred in June of this year. Robinson confirmed our information and led detectives to the location of the handgun.”

The recovered gun will be sent to the Northern Illinois Crime Lab for testing, Kaupas said.

Robinson was arrested and charged with possession of cannabis with intent to deliver, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug equipment,  unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, armed habitual criminal, unlawful use of a weapon by a known gang member, unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, and defacing identification marks of a firearm. 

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He is being held in Will County jail in lieu of $500,000 bond.







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