Joliet Burglar Lands In Will Co. Jail 4th Time Since May 2023: JPD

JOLIET — Around Joliet, it's quite common for the Joliet police officers to arrest the same people over and over for various criminal activity. Four days ago, Joliet officers captured a familiar face, 36-year-old Ira Couch, who comes from North Raynor Avenue. This time, Couch is being charged with residential burglary.

According to the petition to deny Couch's pretrial release, a woman from the 1200 block of Highland Avenue had her home burglarized on June 24. She noticed the basement door was breached. She checks on the house daily, even though she does not live there. The home is part of her estate. The Joliet police were notified that jewelry was missing and the drawers and cabinets were rummaged through.

Joliet police obtained a fingerprint from the scene of the crime. The fingerprint came from a cabinet drawer and the fingerprint matched the known print for Couch, according to the petition. The executor of the estate "does not know the defendant and does not know why his fingerprint would be on the cabinet," Will County prosecutors told the judge.

The criminal complaint indicates that Couch knowingly and without authority entered the dwelling place of the woman, in the 1200 block of Highland Avenue, "with intent to commit ... a theft."

Couch has been incarcerated in the Will County Jail on four separate occasions since late May 2023. He was also arrested by Joliet police on June 27 only to be let out of the jail the next day, on June 28, the jail logs show.

Since his July 17 burglary arrest, Couch has remained in detention. He is not being let out this time, the jail records indicate.