Pontiac Police: Suspect detained following armed robbery

Posted on January 20, 2022
Police car
Police say the investigation is ongoing. Information regarding criminal charges have not been released. (WJBC file photo)

By Neil Doyle

PONTIAC – An Aurora man has been arrested after an armed robbery Wednesday afternoon in Pontiac.

Police say the armed robbery happened around 12:54 p.m. at the BP gas station located at 319 West Howard Street.

A masked suspect entered the store and displayed a handgun before demanding money and forcing the employee to lie on the ground, according to a news release. After obtaining an undisclosed amount of cash, the suspect fled the store in a beige Honda Accord. The employee was not injured.

Police say the vehicle was observed driving at a high rate of speed in Grundy County around 10:30 p.m. The vehicle continued through the Village of Dwight and northeast Livingston County before crashing on the west side of Kankakee.

Authorities say the driver, identified as 27-year-old Jarvis L. Postlewaite, Aurora, attempted to flee on foot before being taken into custody. A stolen handgun, a large amount of cash, and various narcotics were recovered from the totaled vehicle.

Postlewaite was transported to St. Mary’s Hospital in Kankakee for medical treatment.

Police say the investigation is ongoing. Information regarding criminal charges have not been released.

Assisting agencies include the Dwight Police Department, the Livingston County and Kankakee County Sheriff’s Departments, the Kankakee Police Department, and the Illinois State Police District 21.

Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…