Lockport Township Woman Jailed On Child Endangerment Charges

LOCKPORT, IL — A Lockport Township woman who was twice arrested and charged with locking her two children in a vehicle last year outside local bars was finally booked into the Will County Jail on Thursday, six months after a warrant was issued for her arrest.

Kimberly Wells, 37, was booked into the jail on Thursday afternoon, according to jail records. Wells was arrested in June and July last year after police said she locked her children, ages 2 and 3 at the time, in two separate incidents.

In June, police said Wells left her children unattended in the car while she went into Crow’s Next Tavern in Joliet. Approximately two weeks later, Wells was again arrested after she left her children locked in the car while she went into Los Gavenos Bar in Joliet, police said.

Police said that they found the children in the car with all the windows closed and the inside of the car in deplorable condition, police said. Wells then came out of the bar, police said, and informed officers that she was the mother of the two children and said she had been inside the bar for 30 to 60 minutes.

After the July incident, police took Wells into custody and the Department of Children and Family Services was notified, and the children were placed in the custody of another family member.

Wells was scheduled to appear in court in August and faced four counts of endangering the life and safety of a child but failed to appear. The Will County State’s Attorney issued a warrant for her arrest.

Following the warrant being issued for her arrest, Wells was charged with driving on a suspended or revoked license in Joliet and Shorewood, records show.