Crime & Safety

Plainfield Man Held in Joliet Shooting

Ladarius Eatman, of Plainfield, is being held on $1 million bond for his alleged role in the shooting of a Joliet man in the face and back, Joliet police said.

By Karen Sorensen

The second of three suspects wanted in the shooting of a man in a botched drug deal is in Joliet police custody, charged with armed robbery and aggravated battery with a firearm.

A warrant was issued for the arrest of Ladarius D. Eatman, 19, 13803 S. Kendall, Plainfield, after investigators linked him to the car that the suspects drove into a telephone pole as they were fleeing the shooting scene, Joliet Police Cmdr. Brian Benton said.

Eatman turned himself in to the police at noon Friday. One other suspect, whose identity has not been released, remains at large.

The shooting took place at about 11:10 p.m. May 30 in the 100 block of East Benton Street. 

Police said the victim met a woman online and agreed to meet her that night to sell her some cannabis. The woman didn't show but the three suspects did, intent on taking the victim's drugs, Benton said. The victim had no drugs, however, and during the course of a fight, a gun was pulled and the victim shot in the lower jaw and lower back, he said.

As the men were fleeing, they crashed into a pole and Kennedy Wesley Jordan, 21, of 254 S. Adler Creek, Romeoville, was injured, Benton said. He was the first to be arrested because he went to the hospital to get stitches for a cut he received during the accident, he said.

The remaining two suspects were tracked down through the woman with whom the victim was corresponding online, he said. The victim told the woman he had drugs that he didn't actually have, and even sent her a photo of cannabis he found on the Internet, because he wanted to meet her in person, Benton said.

In addition to armed robbery and aggravated battery charges, Eatman was also booked on three counts of battery. He's being held at the Will County jail in lieu of $1 million bond. 

According to records at the Will County Circuit Clerk's Office, Eatman has previously been arrested and charged with battery in May, fighting in February 2012 and robbery in November 2011.


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