'You Want Me To Snitch On People, Take People Out?' Joliet Shooting Defendant Regains Freedom From Judge

JOLIET, IL — Despite the efforts of the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glagsow, Joliet resident Silas Trujillo will not be kept in the Will County Jail under the SAFE-T-Act, even though he's accused in a Joliet shooting.

Will County's longest serving judge, Amy Bertani-Tomczak, made her decision Tuesday morning, siding with Trujillo, who was charged last week with two crimes of reckless discharge of a firearm, unlawful possession of a controlled substance, cocaine, and possession of a gun without having the Firearm Owner's Identification Card.

According to court records, the State's Attorney's petition to deny pretrial release was turned down and the warrant for Trujillo's arrest was quashed by the judge. Judge Bertani ordered Trujillo to be placed on pretrial release, and his next hearing was set for Dec. 18 in her Courtroom 405.

The Will County Sheriff's Office filed last week's criminal complaint that pertained to a shooting last summer at the Trujillo family's property in the 2400 block of Berry Street.

According to the prosecution's petition to deny pretrial release, at 1:51 a.m. June 5, sheriff's deputies Neale, Randich, Gloster and Villalobos responded to the home on Berry Street, which is one mile from the Louis Joliet Mall. The call pertained to a reckless discharge of a gun and a welfare check. The 911 caller told authorities her son may be having a mental breakdown and was in possession of a black handgun, court documents reflect.

Silas Trujillo's mother gave Will County permission to search her house and deputies found three .40-caliber spent shell casings in the grassy area near the back door, a blue Sig arms handgun case in the upstairs bedroom, a white powdery substance, a portable weighing scale and several empty dime-size clear bags on a table, prosecutors outlined for Judge Bertani. The white substance later tested positive for 0.26 grams of cocaine.

Deputy Neale interviewed Silas Trujillo about the gun.

"It's far away, it's not in the yard. It's way out of this property line," the defendant replied, court documents indicate.

When asked if he threw the gun somewhere, prosecutors say Trujillo answered, "No, I promise you. You ain't gonna find it."

Trujillo also reportedly told Will County Sheriff's that "gangbangers" came to his house. Prosecutors noted that Trujillo was "extremely intoxicated" at the time of his police interview, "slurring his words, having a strong odor of alcohol on his breath."

When sheriff's deputies re-interviewed him hours later, they asked Trujillo again if he had a gun on him.

"I don't have nothin. I'm not licensed to carry," he answered, according to prosecutors.

When asked why he had a gun case in his bedroom, court documents allege Trujillo hesitated for five seconds, before responding, "Case. Do whatever you gotta do."

When the deputy tried asking him one more time about the gun case, Trujillo paused for 12 seconds and then proclaimed, "Can't. I appreciate you asking me. You want me to snitch on people, take people out?" court documents state.

Eventually, Trujillo asked for a cigarette and the sheriff's deputies obliged. When the deputies asked if he had a gun earlier that day, Trujillo answered, "The right to remain silent is always the greatest."

Trujillo was told how his mother saw him with a handgun and he was asked, again, if he fired it.

"No," he answered, prosecutors said.

When asked why he had a gun case, officials say he responded, "the looks. Just the looks."

Finally, at 2:45 p.m., Trujillo gave the following story of what had happened.

According to court files, Trujillo said an unknown black male and white female walked up his driveway and began shooting at him. He then did what he had to do and ran for cover in his backyard.

At 2:55 p.m., Will County police retrieved the Sig case and it was not empty. Inside the case was a black .40-caliber SIG Sauer P229 with two empty magazines, court records say.

Later, deputies talked with Silas Trujillo's mother and she indicated "she was woken up by what she thought to be a gunshot. She walked into the living room and observed (Silas) loading a magazine into a black handgun. She became scared and called 911 from the other side of the house." She also relayed to deputies that Silas "suffers from bipolar disorder and is a heavy drinker and she thinks he is having a mental breakdown," prosecutors told Judge Bertani.

His mother did not see her son fire the gun; Plainfield's Fire Department sent an ambulance to the incident because of Silas Trujillo's "extreme intoxication and hallucinations of people in his driveway shooting at him." He was taken to St. Joe's hospital.

Will County deputies later found one spent .40-caliber shell casing on the ground to the west of the back door and two more on a walkway between the house and garage. Deputies canvassed the area and did not find any defects to homes in the area.

"The people pray that this honorable court deny the defendant pretrial release," Will County prosecutors wrote.