Swansea Police arrest suspect with loaded guns and body armor
SWANSEA, Ill. – A traffic stop in Swansea leads to piles of loaded guns and a suspect, whom police say was wearing body armor. Police provided pictures of the items seized during a traffic stop on North 159 in Swansea on Saturday.
Investigators say 44-year-old Joel Desus Diaz from Swansea was wearing body armor and had at least six loaded guns in the backseat of his car, with high-capacity magazines, ammunition, and a small amount of cannabis.
“When he was conducting the traffic stop, he made contact with the driver. There were some things he noticed in the car, and he made some observations that led him to search for the vehicle,” said Chief Matthew Blomberg.
Following the arrest, a search warrant was issued and more weapons were found in Desus-Diaz’s home.
“You have long guns, pistols, rifles, handguns, ammunition, shotguns, rounds, and different calibers of pistol ammunition. It was very overwhelming, actually. The quantity he recovered I have not seen in my career or in those 25 years,” said Chief Blomberg.
The chief says the officer who made the discovery should be commended.
“He is very aggressive; he recovers guns all the time, but usually it’s maybe one or two facts that we recovered as many as we did and the quantity of ammunition is very concerning to us,“ said Chief Blomberg.
The St. Clair County State’s Attorney Office charged Desus Diaz with six counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon with body armor, the most serious felony charge in Illinois, and one count of unlawful use of a firearm.
“They are guns, right? Most people think you can use them for firing range or personal defense, which they are afforded, but in Illinois, we have some laws about who can possess them and how you can transport them and unfortunately, in this situation, this gentleman broke many of those laws,“ said Chief Blomberg.
At this time, officers say it’s unclear what the suspect planned to do with those weapons, but the case was presented to the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office, which resulted in the charges.
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