Cocaine Dealer Slumped Behind Wheel At Joliet Gas Station Again: JPD

JOLIET — For the second year in a row, 45-year-old Shorewood resident Kelly Decman was arrested in Will County. This week, the state's attorney's office filed a petition to deny pretrial release for Decman, after Joliet police found her slumped behind the wheel of a vehicle at a gas station, court records show.

Decman is charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and three counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance after Joliet police arrested her.

According to prosecutors, around 3:40 a.m. on Monday, Joliet police were called to the Lenny's Food and Fuel gas station at the corner of Houbolt Road and Route 6 for a report of a person slumped over behind the wheel of a car.

The caller knocked on the window of Decman's Toyota Camry, but the Shorewood woman did not respond, prosecutors said. Decman's Camry was parked in front of the Food and Fuel building, and was the only person inside the vehicle.

According to prosecutors, the Joliet Fire Department made it to the gas station first and by the time Joliet police arrived, Decman was outside her vehicle, looking around and holding one hand behind her back. Decman told the Joliet police she was parked there a couple of hours and never made it inside the gas station, court documents said.

Decman also told Joliet police she did not know what town she was in, according to court records.

Prosecutors said officers saw a Crown Royal bag on the floorboard of Decman's sedan, and when Joliet police Sgt. Bill Otis and Officer Nowak approached Decman, she refused to show them her hands.

She refused to cooperate and pushed one of the officer's body worn cameras, court documents show. At the Food and Fuel, Joliet police recovered cocaine and a glass pipe from Decman's clothes and inside her car, which belongs to Decman's mother, court files indicate.

In addition, Joliet police noted they found two large plastic baggies with 21.46 grams of cocaine. They also seized a green plastic bag with magic mushrooms weighing 10.6 grams, plus an orange unlabeled pill bottle with a rolled up dollar bill that tested positive for Fentanyl.

Will County prosecutors argued that Decman should be detained indefinitely under the SAFE-T-Act because she already has a pending 2023 drug-dealing case. At the time of Monday's arrest, Decman was out of jail on an eight-count felony indictment, and three of the eight counts are identical to her newest charges.

"We humbly submit that this demonstrates that the defendant is unable to comply with any conditions that this court could order," prosecutors argued in their petition. "And it is difficult to see how electronic monitoring would have prevented the conduct we allege occurred on August 12, 2024. Finally, we submit that the defendant is a real and present threat to her own safety."

After reviewing the evidence, Will County Judge Donald DeWilkins ruled against the Will County State's Attorney's Office.

Instead, he granted the Shorewood woman her freedom.

"State has failed to prove no condition or condition exist," the judge wrote.

Decman was let out of the Will County Jail at 4:57 p.m. on Tuesday. She lives in the 100 block of Summer Street, which is right off Jefferson Street, near the DuPage River. Her next court hearing is set for Sept. 27 in Courtroom 405.

Last year's Joliet Patch story about Decman was headlined, "Cocaine Dealer From Shorewood Falls Asleep At Joliet Gas Station: JPD