NEWS RELEASE
City of Carbondale, Illinois

01-01-2025
For Immediate Release
CARBONDALE – 

***Update - Armed Robbery***

CARBONDALE - On December 30, 2024, at 6:36 p.m. officers of the City of Carbondale Police Department, responded to a business in the 900 block of East Main Street in reference to a report of an armed robbery. During the course of the investigation officers identified the suspect as Jonquel M. Gaston, age 27 of Carbondale.  Investigators coordinated with law enforcement officials in Champaign County, Illinois where officers arrested him.  Gaston is charged with Armed Robberyand being an Armed Habitual Criminal.   Gaston is incarcerated in the Champaign County, Illinois County Jail awaiting extradition to Jackson County. Anyone with information about this investigation is encouraged to contact the Police Department at the numbers listed below.  The investigation into the incident continues to be active and ongoing.  
 
Prior Release - On December 30, 2024, at 6:36 p.m. officers of the City of Carbondale Police Department, responded to a business in the 900 block of East Main Street in reference to a report of an armed robbery. Officers learned the suspect entered the business, displayed a firearm, and demanded money. The suspect, pictured below, was described as a black male, approximately 5'06''tall, weighing about 240 pounds, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, athletic shorts, and white shoes. The suspect fled northbound prior to the officer’s arrival, but during the course of the investigation, it was learned he was last seen running south near the intersection of South Cedarview and East Walnut Street. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the police department at the numbers listed below.  The investigation into the incident is active and ongoing.  
 


Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact the City of Carbondale Police Department at (618) 549-2121. You may also call the Carbondale/SIU Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (618) 549-COPS (2677) or the Murphysboro/Jackson County anonymous tip line at (618) 687-COPS (2677). Anonymous tips may also be made by selecting the “Crime Stoppers” tab on this website’s main page. Please help yourself and your county, its communities, and the university campus by using these numbers if you witness or have any information about a crime. Cash rewards for information that leads to an arrest are also made anonymously. Remember, crime doesn’t pay, but Crime Stoppers does!

The mission of the Carbondale Police Department is to work in partnership with our community to preserve life, protect human rights, protect property and improve quality of life by providing police service to all in a fair, sensitive, and professional manner.