Prosecutors have filed home invasion and weapons charges against a Chicago man who was shot after he allegedly broke into his ex-girlfriend’s Rogers Park home over the weekend.
Gregory Joiner, 36, was ordered held without bail by Judge Susana Ortiz on Tuesday afternoon.
Joiner, the victim, and two friends went to a party and then headed to Wiggles Gentlemen’s Club on Friday night, prosecutors said. The evening soured when Joiner and the woman argued about him spending her money at the strip club, said Rhianna Biernat, a Cook County assistant state’s attorney. The group left the club.
After Joiner dropped the friends off at home, he became angry with the woman and slammed her head into the car’s passenger window as they traveled on Lake Shore Drive, Biernat said. The woman jumped out of the vehicle when Joiner slowed down, ran home, and locked her door.
But Joiner climbed through one of her windows, and the woman’s surveillance system recorded her telling Joiner that he was not welcome and to get out, Biernat said.
After Joiner allegedly punched the woman in the face and pulled off her wig, she grabbed her gun and fired two warning shots toward the kitchen.
Biernat said Joiner lunged at the woman, continued to assault her, and bit her hand. He gained control of her weapon and ditched it behind some tarps about 100 feet from her door.
At some point during the incident, Joiner received a gunshot wound to his leg. He called 911 as he drove to the hospital and reported that he had been shot. Police arrested him after he was released.
The woman suffered facial injuries and had bite marks on her hand. Biernat said Chicago police responded to domestic incidents involving the couple several times this summer, but no arrests were made.
Joiner’s defense attorney argued that “a substantial amount of alcohol was consumed at Wiggles strip club” and that the incident was “likely mutual combat.”
He also said that Joiner has never been convicted of domestic violence. Joiner has eight children, attends trucking school, and is a respected member of his church, the lawyer said.
Prosecutors said Joiner has three felony convictions, most recently for robbery in 2015.