Off-Road Motorcycle For State's Attorney Jim Glasgow? Forfeiture Underway Against Ex-Joliet Employee

JOLIET, IL — Joliet Patch remains the only news outlet to regularly bring you exclusive stories from the Will County Courthouse involving the civil forfeiture cases. One of the latest cases filed by the Will County State's Attorney's Office seeks to turn the Honda XR 100S off-road motorcycle of 25-year-old Joliet citizen Devin Grizzle into a forfeited asset for the police.

Joliet Patch broke the news of Grizzle's felony charges in September. Now, Grizzle also faces the prospect of having his 2002 Honda motorcycle taken away from him forever.

According to the filing, Sgt. Matt Yates of the Will County Forest Preserve District Police spotted the Honda XR 100R traveling along a walking trail on Aug. 20 at the Joliet Iron Works Historic Site, 75 Columbia Street, near downtown Joliet. The sergeant noticed Grizzle look back at the police officer after passing him, prompting the sergeant to activate his overhead emergency lights and sirens.

Grizzle then approached a second trail crossing and disregarded a stop sign and "Sergeant Yates almost had to come to a complete stop to avoid Devin Grizzle," the forfeiture revealed. "Devin Grizzle continued north and Sgt. Yates grabbed the PA mic shouting, 'Stop' multiple times. Devin Grizzle did not stop but did turn his head multiple times looking back at Sgt. Yates," the complaint noted.

Because there were multiple trail crossings, blind corners and people out potentially walking on the trail, the Forest Preserve sergeant turned off his emergency lights and sirens, but continued to follow Grizzle as he disregarded another stop sign at the third trail crossing.

Grizzle continued riding along the Iron Works walking trail toward the train bridge as Sgt. Yates remained on the access road. When Grizzle spotted the sergeant again, he turned around and headed southbound, according to prosecutors.

By that point, the Will County Forest police sergeant was not sure what happened to Grizzle. He did not see or hear him anymore. Then, while crossing an intersection, court documents say Sgt. Yates suddenly noticed Grizzle traveling at high speeds disregarding the stop sign; the sergeant hit his brakes and veered to his left, but the Joliet motorcyclist collided with the passenger side of the Will County Forest Police Patrol truck.

Grizzle came off his Honda, then stood up and ran south, cutting through the grass that divided the walking trail and access road, court records show. The Will County sergeant ran from his patrol truck and captured Grizzle. A Joliet Fire Department ambulance transported Grizzle to St. Joe's Hospital, and he was later treated and released for his injuries.

The civil forfeiture involving Grizzle's Honda motorcycle is set for Oct. 29 at the Will County Courthouse. As for Grizzle, in recent years, he worked for the city of Joliet, but he no longer is employed there as of August 2024, according to city officials.

On Sept. 12, Joliet Patch reported that the Will County State's Attorney's Office filed a criminal complaint against Grizzle, charging the young man with two counts of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer. David Barrios, the deputy police chief with the Will County Forest Preserve Police District, filed the criminal complaint.