By Brandon LaChance —

Mazon, a village of 1,145 people, is not known for a high crime rate or reports of guns being fired outside of hunting season.

On Thursday, the normal peacefulness was disturbed by a routine traffic stop gone wrong.

“A little after 5 p.m. (Thursday) our deputy attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a car going southbound on Route 47 around Route 113,” Grundy County Sheriff Ken Briley said. “The offending vehicle took off southbound on Route 47 and was ultimately involved in an accident just south of Grand Ridge Road.

“The offender took off on foot westbound into the residential area of Mazon along the railroad tracks. The deputy was chasing him on foot and the offender turned with what we believe to be a handgun and fired several rounds at the deputy striking him in the left forearm and once in the chest area. The ballistic vest stopped that bullet and then the deputy was struck again in the back shoulder blade area. The ballistic vest stopped that bullet as well.

“The offender continued to run and we ended up locating him a couple hours later inside of an apartment building in the vicinity of where the shooting took place.”

The officer on duty who was shot three times was Deputy Tyler Post. He has been with the department for a little more than three years and from Briley’s knowledge has never been in a gunfire situation.

DeMarcus Tramaine Denwiddie, 18 from Joliet, was the offender who sped away from the traffic stop, was involved in an automobile accident, ran into Mazon on foot and shot Deputy Post.

“I’ve lived in this area 20-plus years and I can’t think of a situation where we ever had a deputy shot in Grundy County,” Sheriff Briley said. “The deputy was able to provide critical information over the radio. He even gave the direction of travel when he was on foot pursuit. He was able to tell us on the radio that shots were fired and that he was hit. He was able to give a description of the offender and which way he was traveling, which ultimately allowed us to apprehend him.

“Our dispatchers did a great job. We had several hundred police officers from all over Illinois come to our assistance. Everyone did a great job. Everybody needs to be commended. We were not leaving Mazon until he was in custody.”

Once Denwiddie was located, he was contacted and came out of the apartment building without a struggle. Sheriff Briley gave a special thank you to everyone involved, including the Mazon community.

“There was no struggle. The Will County Swat Team used one of their negotiators and through communication – I don’t know if it was a phone call or text messaging – but the negotiator was able to talk him out of the apartment building without further incident,” Sheriff Briley said. Obviously, it’s a tough situation, but the turnout could have been far worse.

“The citizens of Mazon did a great job. We put out a message to let them know this person was loose in Mazon. We asked them to all stay in their house, lock their doors, and call 911 if they saw anything. We got great cooperation from the citizens of Mazon. We are glad we were able to take him into custody and none of the citizens in the area were hurt. The citizens did help us with information. We have witnesses who saw the entire event. We live in a great community. Grundy County is a great community.”

Deputy Post was taken to the hospital for treatment.

After visiting with Deputy Post, Sheriff Briley believes his deputy is starting to realize what he did and how he excelled in performing his duties as a police officer.

“Deputy Post is doing well. He is in good spirits,” Sheriff Briley said. “I went to the hospital (Thursday) and went back (Friday). Obviously, this is starting to set in on him now. We told him he did a great job and he truly did. The radio traffic he provided with the description and the location were all crucial in us being able to find this guy.

“Tyler Post was very brave and he did a great job.”

Brandon LaChance can be reached at (815) 876-7941, blachance20@gmail.com, or on Twitter @LaChanceWriter.

Update: October 14, 2021

Per the Grundy County Sheriff Department, DeMarcus Tramaine Denwiddie has been charged with six counts of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm and three counts of aggravated battery. All counts are classified as a Class X felony. Denwiddie appeared in Grundy County Court and his bond has been set at $10 million. Denwiddie is being held in a separate, undisclosed, detention facility outside of Grundy County.