JOLIET, IL — On the same day that jury selection was scheduled to begin in Will County Courtroom 502 for Joliet first-degree murder defendant Peter Zabala, Zabala’s criminal defense attorney Chuck Bretz learned that he was formally charged at the Grundy County Courthouse in Morris with domestic violence, months after his October arrest by the Minooka Police Department.
A review of Grundy County’s online court record system shows that the 68-year-old Minooka resident was charged with two crimes of domestic violence on Wednesday and that Kankakee County State’s Attorney Jim Rowe filed his appearance as the special prosecutor assigned to the case.
As for Bretz, he has chosen former long-time Will County Judge Dave Carlson to serve his criminal defense attorney. Carlson spent about 10 years on the bench at the Will County Courthouse and he handled the lion’s share of Will County’s high-profile criminal cases. Nowadays, he operates his private law practice based in downtown Joliet.
Bretz will not be booked into the Grundy County Jail as an inmate. Instead, he has been issued a summons notifying him to appear at the Grundy County Courthouse in Morris at 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 23.
Instead of spending most of Wednesday meeting with prospective jurors at the Will County Courthouse to select a jury for Zabala, Will County Judge Jessica Colon-Sayre informed everyone that Zabala’s murder trial was taken off the court’s calendar and rescheduled for March.
Will County’s Attorney’s Office attorney and spokesperson Laura Byrne told Joliet Patch on Wednesday evening that the defense made an oral motion to continue, which was granted. The case is set for status of counsel on Jan. 28. The jury trial was reset to March 2, 2026.
Zabala has remained in the Will County jail since Joliet police arrested him in October 2018 for the disappearance and murder of Ashley Tucker, whose body was burned and disposed of inside a barrel after her slaying. Next week’s trial was supposed to last for at least three weeks.
Joliet murder defendant Peter Zabala will not have his trial next week. Mugshot via Will County Jail
As for Bretz, on Oct. 21, Joliet Patch reported that the Minooka Police Department’s most recent weekend arrest blotter contained the name of one of Joliet’s most sought-after criminal defense lawyers, a man who is often hired and paid thousands of dollars to represent Will County criminal defendants.
It’s the second time in recent years that Bretz found himself in trouble with the law.
Back in October, Minooka Police Chief Justin Meyer told Joliet Patch that Bretz was arrested on a 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 told Joliet Patch in the aftermath of Bretz’s arrest.
Bretz is a Minooka resident, and police eventually obtained video surveillance from the downtown area. 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 the jail.
Because Grundy County would not hold him, Minooka police returned to Morris to pick up Bretz and gave him a ride back to the Minooka Police Department, where he was processed and released on a criminal citation.
Meyer said the 4-year-old child was not seriously injured.
Before that, 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.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Joliet Patch left a voicemail message for Bretz seeking comment in regard to the delay of Zabala’s murder trial. At the time of the call, Patch did not know that the criminal charges had been filed in Grundy County.
In any event, Bretz has not returned phone calls to Joliet Patch since his Minooka police arrest.
