MINOOKA, IL — The Minooka Police Department’s recent weekend arrest blotter contains the name of one of Joliet’s sought after criminal defense lawyers, a man who is often hired and paid several thousand dollars to represent Will County’s first-degree murder defendants. For the second time in recent years, Joliet attorney Chuck Bretz has found himself in trouble with the law.
Minooka Police Chief Justin Meyer explained that Bretz was arrested during the daytime Saturday around the time of the annual Minooka Halloween parade. Minooka police were called to the downtown business district after witnesses saw Bretz using a belt to beat his 4-year-old family member, in the 100 block of West Mondamin, near the corner of Wabena Street, according to the chief.
“Witnesses saw him beating a young child with a belt,” Minooka’s long-time police chief informed Joliet Patch’s editor.
Bretz is a Minooka resident, and the police eventually obtained video surveillance from the area. The Minooka police did not find Bretz at the downtown location after the incident but tracked him down by mid-afternoon, and he was arrested on domestic battery charges.
After Bretz was taken to the Grundy County Jail in downtown Morris, Minooka police learned that the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office would not be booking Bretz into their jail.
Because Grundy County would not hold him, Minooka police returned to Morris to pick up Bretz, and give him a ride back to the Minooka Police Department, where he was processed and released on a criminal citation.
Meyer said it was his understanding that Bretz was supposed to have his first court appearance at the Grundy County Courthouse on Monday, where he is charged with domestic battery. Meyer said that the 4-year-old child was not seriously injured.
The last time Bretz was hauled away in handcuffs was by the Lockport Police Department.
In the summer of 2020, Joliet Patch reported that the prominent Joliet criminal defense attorney was found not guilty of driving under the influence or obstructing a police officer, a judge ruled during a bench trial.
Bretz was pulled over by Lockport police for speeding on Feb. 14, 2020 in the 700 block of Lockport’s State Street and was later charged with DUI and obstructing a police officer. Will County Circuit Court Judge Dave Carlson found Bretz guilty of speeding but determined Bretz was not guilty of DUI.
During the 2020 bench trial, Carlson viewed video of Bretz’s arrest and heard testimony from Lockport police officer James Truhlar as well as that of another officer. Prior to the bench trial, Carlson had found in favor of Bretz during an evidentiary hearing in which the judge determined Bretz could continue with his driving privileges after his license was suspended after he was charged with the DUI offense.
