Man wanted on gun charge arrested with another weapon
By Brian Stanley bstanley@stmedianetwork.com September 6, 2012 5:08PM
Updated: October 9, 2012 2:45PM
JOLIET — Police say a man who already was wanted for holding one gun was carrying another when he attempted to flee Wednesday.
Cmdr. Al Roechner said Demetrius L. Moffett, 23, had been wanted on a warrant for aggravated assault since shortly after a March 20 shooting incident.
Residents of the 300 block of Des Plaines reported coming outside to see Moffett holding “a long gun” and aiming it at them before handing the weapon to Josephus M. Gaston, 18, Roechner said.
Gaston reportedly shot at the victims before fleeing the scene but was arrested the next day when victims identified him and Moffett.
“This was a gang-related dispute,” Roechner said.
Just before 11 p.m. Wednesday, police reportedly spotted Moffett riding in a white van near Woodruff Road and Draper Avenue.
“The officers were aware of the warrant and went to stop the vehicle when the driver slowed down and Moffett jumped out and ran with a silver handgun in his hand,” Roechner said.
As the van sped away, police chased Moffett to the 1000 block of Magnolia Avenue where he dropped the gun behind the back of a house,” Roechner said. A canine unit was called in and found Moffett hiding behind another house in the 1000 block of Woodruff Road.
According to reports, the .38-caliber pistol Moffett dropped was loaded.
Moffett, of 619 Elmwood St., was booked into the county jail on charges of aggravated assault, being an armed habitual criminal, unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a street gang member, defacing the identifying marks of a firearm and resisting arrest.
On Jan. 1, Joliet police arrested Moffett and Jevon D. Lesley, 19, after Moffett allegedly refused to pull over while driving a car that contained cannabis, ecstasy, a .38 special that had been reported stolen and a .38 pistol with the serial number filed off.
On the night of June 9, 2010, police stopped a vehicle Moffett was driving without headlights when a 14-year-old boy ran from the vehicle with a pistol in his hands.
