Duo charged in alleged hate crime
JOLIET -- The New Year got off to an ugly start Thursday with a beating police say appears to be racially motivated.
Officers were called at 5:04 a.m. to a fight outside the Marathon gas station, 324 S. Larkin Ave., at the corner of Larkin and McDonough Street.
Deputy Chief Patrick Kerr said two white men were using a garbage can from the parking lot to beat a 43-year-old black man.
The suspects are identified as Lucas M. Bailey and Jerry Bryant, both 26.
Witnesses reported the pair yelled racial epithets at their victim and stated, "This is for Obama," likely referring to the ethnic heritage of the president-elect.
A police officer arrived and ordered the suspects to stop, but Bryant was apparently agitated enough to launch an equal-opportunity attack on the white officer.
"He swung and struck the officer with the garbage can," Kerr said.
The officer used pepper spray to subdue Bryant. Bailey reportedly attempted to run away while Bryant was being handcuffed, but was also taken into custody.
The victim was taken to Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center where he was listed in stable condition with "lacerations and bruises" to his head.
"The victim was intoxicated and because of his injuries we have not yet been able to conduct a detailed interview," Kerr said Thursday afternoon.
The police officer involved in the confrontation did not require treatment for his injuries.
Bryant, of 511 N. Briggs St., and Bailey, of 2029 Roberts Road in Wilmington, were booked into the county jail on charges of aggravated battery, mob action, committing a hate crime and resisting a police officer. Bryant was also charged with aggravated battery to a police officer.
Records indicate Bryant has previously been arrested on hate crime charges.
In February 2003, he was one of two people arrested by Will County Sheriff's police after a fight started outside a house owned by a black family in the Ridgewood area.
Witnesses reported Bryant and his younger brother, yelled "racial slurs and derogatory comments" at the adults and juveniles inside before being charged with committing a hate crime and battery.
Bryant is currently on parole for a five-year sentence of theft for shoplifting from a New Lenox store in December 2006. In 2005, he was sentenced to 39 months in prison after shoplifting numerous items from the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Morris.
He has also previously served time for robbery, aggravated battery and criminal damage to property.