Man Tried Running Over Woman, Child After Fire Broke Out: Joliet PD

JOLIET —A 46-year-old man from the Plainfield area is now in the Will County Jail facing lots of criminal charges from the Joliet police: domestic battery, aggravated battery, two counts of reckless conduct and endangering the life or health of a child.

Joliet police say the arrest of Brandon White took place at the site of a house fire, where White used his vehicle as a dangerous weapon, trying to run over a woman and a 3-year-old child, according to the police.

According to Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English, at 10:08 p.m. Saturday, officers responded to a house in the 5500 block of Maha Court for a structure fire and a disturbance. The officers saw heavy smoke coming from the second floor of the residence. The Joliet Fire Department arrived on scene and extinguished the fire.

According to English, officers learned that following a disturbance at a gathering at a different location, White left the gathering in the family vehicle, leaving his wife and children behind. Later, White’s wife and children arrived back at their house on Maha via a rideshare service and saw smoke coming from the second floor of their home.

While they were standing in the driveway, police allege that White arrived and drove a Chevrolet Malibu into the driveway and intentionally struck a woman with the vehicle while she was holding her 3-year-old grandson, English announced.

Prosecutors say White then drove across the lawn and struck an unoccupied vehicle parked in a nearby driveway, before then fleeing the scene. The woman and child were evaluated by Joliet Fire Department paramedics but were not injured.

White was arrested during a traffic stop later in the evening near Caton Farm Road and Weber Road after being located by the Joliet officers. The fire remains under investigation.