Pot Buy Goes Bad for Plainfield Teen, Police Say

A Plainfield teen supposedly beaten and robbed while trying to buy pot in Shorewood appeared in court Tuesday morning to answer his own criminal charges.

Paul Durys, 18, 24137 Primrose Circle, was arrested by Shorewood police in May on charges of driving under the influence of drugs, possession of cannabis and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Three days after that arrest, Durys allegedly returned to Shorewood in hopes of replenishing his pot supply, police said.

Durys and a young woman rendezvoused with 18-year-old Jacob Gajcak at the corner of Ranchwood and Colonade drives, police said. The plan was for Gajcak to sell Durys an ounce of marijuana, the police report said.

Instead, Gajcak allegedly punched Durys in the face and snatched away the $360 he brought along to buy the pot, police said.

Durys fought back, and during the scuffle inside Gajcak's Impala, Durys' companion jumped into the fray, police said. She fell out of the Impala and suffered a broken arm when Gajcak ran her over as he drove off.

Nearly a week later, a Shorewood cop forced his way into the Dover Way home where Gajcak lives with his parents and sisters, Tased the teen and arrested him on felony charges of aggravated battery and robbery, along with a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.

Prosecutors reduced those charges to battery and theft — both misdemeanors. 

Also, despite the allegations by the police that Gajcak ran over the young woman's arm, he has not been charged with harming her.

As a condition of his bond, Gajcak is forbidden from contacting Durys. There is no such stipulation regarding the young woman. In fact, Gajcak's court file makes no mention of her.

Gajcak's father, Jim Gajcak, questioned whether the young woman actually suffered a broken arm.

"She comes into court, she doesn't have bandages or a cast on," Jim Gajcak said of a young woman present at one of his son's court hearings whom he believes is the same person claiming to have been run over after a drug deal deteriorated into chaos.

The police refuse to identify the woman. Jim Gajcak said his son has no idea who she might be.

Jacob Gajcak, who is free on bond, is due back in court Aug. 25. Durys is slated for a Sept. 29 hearing on his charges.