Man Faces Removal From Will Co. Drug Court: Prosecutors

JOLIET, IL — One of the most arrested people by the Joliet Police Department during the past few years, 46-year-old resident Monte Alexander, will be remanded to the Will County Courthouse on Monday morning as the Will County State's Attorney's Office intends to kick Alexander out of Will County's Drug Court program.

According to court filings, Will County Judge Fred Harvey will decide the prosecution's petition and the judge may go ahead and re-sentence Alexander at the hearing in Courtroom 401. In addition to crimes in Grundy County and Crest Hill, Alexander was arrested by Joliet police officers, over and over, often in connection with high-volume shoplifting retail thefts at major stores such as Walmart, Menards and CVS Pharmacy, among other places.

But that's not at all. Alexander's crimes also included reckless driving and burglaries and in many of his encounters with the police and store employees, Alexander tried to outrun or elude the authorities in his getaway vehicle.

Alexander's criminal cases created an enormous amount of paperwork and filings for the Will County State's Attorney's Office because all of his crimes were separate offenses.

However, the State's Attorney's Office managed to resolve four of Alexander's 2023 and 2024 felony crimes and one of his misdemeanor cases as a result of Alexander agreeing to enter Will County's Drug Court program. However, by being admitted into the Will County Drug Court program, Alexander had to sign a contract vowing to obey all the rules and requirements.

The prosecution's petition to remove Alexander from Drug Court, filed on July 25, outlines a long list of violations committed by Alexander showing "that the participant has failed to comply with the agreed upon terms of his Drug Court Contract."

On May 23, 2024, Alexander failed to appear for a scheduled Will County Court appearance, a warrant was then issued for his arrest.

• Nov. 25, 2024, Alexander was captured on the outstanding warrant.
• Jan. 14, 2025, Alexander was ordered released from custody.
• Jan. 28, 2025: Alexander failed to appear for a scheduled court appearance and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
• April 4, 2025: Alexander was captured on the outstanding warrant.
• April 29, 2025: Alexander was ordered released from custody.
• June 10, 2025: Alexander failed to appear for a scheduled court hearing and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
• June 23, 2025: Alexander was captured on the outstanding warrant.

The July 25 filing from Assistant State's Attorney Ana Contreras asks Judge Harvey to hold a hearing to determine whether Alexander has violated the terms of his contract and if so, determine whether Alexander will be dismissed from the Drug Court program and whether the original charges will be reinstated and "the court will sentence the participant to imprisonment or any consequence the honorable court deems appropriate."

To gain acceptance into Will County's Drug Court program, Alexander pleaded guilty to three retail theft crimes, one reckless driving crime and one burglary.

Prior to the Drug Court contract, back in February 2024, prosecutors filed a petition to deny pretrial release for Alexander and Will County's judges kept Alexander in jail from Feb. 13 until May 17, 2024. According to the filing, Crest Hill police were called on Feb. 12, 2024, to the Menards on Weber Road and the caller indicated that Alexander had a history of shoplifting from other Menards. When an officer yelled for Alexander to stop, he drove away in his silver Honda Accord at a high rate of speed through the parking lot and to eastbound Caton Farm Road.

Alexander had a crash at Broadway and Caton Farm Road, and he was taken to St. Joe's hospital for his injuries. Meanwhile, Crest Hill found numerous stolen items from Menards inside his car including two electric smart outdoor cameras, one Feit smart video doorbell, three vibe wireless doorbells, one guideman banshee evolving folding knife and one guidesman operative 2.0 folding knife. The value of the stolen merchandise totaled $284, and Alexander already faced six outstanding warrants for his arrest in Will County, all separate felony cases from 2023.

According to prosecutors, on July 9, 2023, Alexander stole laundry pods, garbage containers and dress shirts from the Walmart at 2424 West Jefferson Street in Joliet and that same day, Alexander stole 15 112-count containers of Tide Pods from the Jewel at 1537 N. Larkin Avenue in Joliet. On July 11, 2023, Alexander stole over 50 bottles of body wash from the Walgreens at 2101 West Jefferson Street in Joliet.

On Aug. 22, 2023, Joliet officers responded to the Petsmart in the strip mall at 2775 Plainfield Road after receiving a call about a suspect inside the store. Alexander left his full cart of dog food and ran off. Once the officers caught him, he complained about shortness of breath and was taken to St. Joe's hospital.

"Officers learned that the defendant was on video taking $1,025 of dog food without paying from Petsmart," court files show. "A witness called in a complaint about the defendant, but Petsmart was unaware of the theft until the dog food was brought back and the video was reviewed showing the defendant take the dog food without paying."

Four days later, Aug. 26, 2023, Alexander was spotted on video of taking $251 worth of dog food without paying at the Menards at 2524 W. Jefferson Street in Joliet. On Sept. 8, 2023, Alexander was spotted on video stealing $492 worth of dog food from the same Menards. When a store employee asked Alexander for a receipt as he was leaving, Alexander laughed at the employee.

On Aug. 30, 2023, a woman and a man entered the Joliet Hobby Lobby at 1400 N. Larkin Ave. and loaded up a cart with vinyl, a hamper set, a basket and lid and an iron on transfer valued at $1,051 and then left without paying. The video was reviewed by Joliet police officer Reilly who "identified the male as Monte Alexander and the female as Nicole Williams," prosecutors outlined.

The same day, Aug. 30, 2023, the Walmart at 2424 W. Jefferson Street reported Alexander was spotted on video taking $720 worth of tool kits, trolley jacks and compressors without paying.

On Nov. 17, 2023, Alexander stole over $400 worth of laundry products from the CVS Pharmacy at 809 Plainfield Road in Joliet.

Joliet Patch stories about Monte Alexander from recent years:

2023: Joliet Thief Monte Alexander Runs From CVS Pharmacy: JPD

2023: Notorious Joliet Shoplifter Faces 9 Felony Charges:

2025: Drug Deal At Joliet Gas Station Leads JPD To Arrest 3: English