UPDATE: Felony Charge in Car Theft Case

Updated: 5:50 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28

Javier R. Reyna was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, a felony, and criminal vehicle trespass, a misdemeanor, on Jan. 25. A warrant was issued for his arrest on Jan. 28.

Leonardo David Reyna was charged with criminal vehicle trespass on Jan. 28. A warrant was issued for his arrest on the same day.

Previously, the Will County State's Attorney had declined to file formal charges against either of the Reyna brothers due to insufficient evidence.

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Updated: 3:41 p.m. Wednesday

The Will County State's Attorney on Jan. 14 declined to file formal charges against Javier R. Reyna and Leonardo David Reyna due to insufficient evidence.

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Two brothers face multiple felony charges after police reportedly found 19 grams of pot in a stolen car that the pair had been driving.

Javier R. Reyna, 20, of the 100 block of N. Center Street in Joliet, and Leonardo David Reyna, 22 of the 3400 block of Beyer Boulevard in San Ysidro, Calif., were booked into Will County Jail pending formal charges of motor vehicle theft and cannabis delivery, both felonies, on Jan. 11.

A Mokena police officer conducted a random license check on a black Nissan Altima at 1:19 a.m. on the day the Reyna brothers were booked and saw that it had been reported as stolen out of Joliet two days before, according to police reports.

The officer followed the car to Hecht Park. The Altima came to a stop in the parking lot and three men sprinted from the car into the trees.

Police later found Javier and Leonardo unarmed in the park. According to reports, the two had exited the car’s front passenger and driver’s side doors.

Javier told police that he and his brother had taken a train to Mokena from Joliet to see a friend and were on their way to meet him, reports state. However, he was unable to provide police with the name of his friend. Both brothers were arrested. The officers then discovered a small bag with trace amounts of cannabis inside Javier’s front right pant pocket.

Police who returned to the Altima found that the front passenger side window of the car was broken and discovered 18 individual bags containing 19 grams of cannabis inside the vehicle.

Officers confirmed with the Joliet Police Department that the Altima was stolen. During a further search of the car, police found a burnt roach cigarette, an opened bag of Lay's dill pickle flavored potato chips and a Circle K grocery bag, among other things.

Security footage that police obtained from the Mokena Shell/Circle K location showed a black Nissan Altima pulling into the parking lot of the store and parking out of view of the camera about 20 minutes before the Reyna brothers encountered the police. In the video, Leonardo enters the business and buys several items, including a bag of Lay's dill pickle chips.

A video filmed on one of two cell phones recovered during the arrest shows both brothers in the car smoking a hand-rolled cigar with two other passengers in the parking lot of the Shell station.  

When questioned at the Mokena Police Department, Javier said the two had been waiting at the Mokena train station for a ride, until they were told by an acquaintance that no one was coming to pick them up. After that, Javier said they walked to Shell station to get something to eat, before encountering the police.

Felony charges were approved and the brothers were transported to Will County Jail.

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Police blotter information is provided by the Mokena Police Department. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions taken on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome.

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