On a Saturday at noon in September 1966, Kankakee experienced a crime that felt like it was ripped from a Hollywood noir film. A gunman ambushed an armored car driver in an alleyway, abducted him, and made off with over $42,000 in cash.

But as Kankakee Police Chief Thomas Maass and his team began to investigate, they realized the call was coming from inside the house. The "victim," a young officer named Ronald Balthazor, wasn't just a driver—he was an active-duty policeman living a desperate double life.

In this episode of This One Time in Kankakee, we unpack the "inside job" that shook the community to its core. We follow the trail from the City National Bank alley to a sweltering getaway truck on the Iroquois County line, and finally to a tense polygraph test in Chicago. It’s a story of high-stakes temptation, "discrepancies" that wouldn't jibe, and a secret stash hidden behind rocks and tile along the Iroquois River.

What’s inside this episode:

• The Heist: The step-by-step "ambush" of the Kankakee Armored Car Service.
• The Double Life: How an active-duty officer maintained his facade for four days while his colleagues hunted for a phantom gunman.
• The Breakdown: The role of 1960s forensics and lie detector tests in cracking the case.
• The Recovery: Chief Maass’s emotional press conference and the search for the stolen bags of loot.

Credits: This story was researched and written by Jack Klasey. For more deep dives into Kankakee's hidden history, check out Jack's weekly blog he used to write at the Kankakee County Museum website before his passing: kankakeecountymuseum.com. We miss you, Jack.

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Want more from the WVLI Podcast Network? Listen to the WVLI News Update with Rob West every weekday morning! Get the days local news from the greater Kankakee County, IL area in 10 minutes or less.

Subscribe now on your preferred podcast platform: https://wvlinewsupdate.buzzsprout.com

The Voices You Trust, Beyond The Dial.

What really happened the night pop star Aaron Carter got into a brawl at a dive bar in Bradley, Illinois?

In this episode of This One Time in Kankakee, Jake LaMore sits down with local artist and musician Tommy Solis—the man right in the middle of the chaos—to set the record straight on one of the most bizarre nights in Kankakee County history.

It was a night that started with 90s nostalgia at The Looney Bin and ended with police lights, ambulances, and a TMZ headline that went global. For years, the internet has known it as the time Aaron Carter was "attacked" by a group of locals. But the truth involves a misunderstood security request, a racially charged insult ("Bye, Felipe"), and a tackle that looked like it belonged in the NFL.

In this episode, we cover:

• The Setup: How a local hip-hop fusion band ended up opening for—and doing security for—the former teen idol.
• The "Bye Felipe" Incident: The exact moment a fan interaction turned into a viral confrontation.
• The Fight: A play-by-play of the "Troy Polamalu" style tackle that stopped the show.
• The Aftermath: Debunking the rumors of a brutal beating, the truth about Aaron’s "injury," and the cancelled encore show.
• The Legacy: Tommy reflects on the eerie "Final Destination" reality that he is the last surviving member of the main trio involved in that night.

Join us for a narrative journey into the collision of fading Hollywood glitz and Kankakee grit.

Guest: Tommy Solis (Member of Ill State and All The Cool Molecules)

Links & Resources:

• Submit your own Kankakee County story: jake@milnermediapartners.com

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Want more from the WVLI Podcast Network? Listen to the WVLI News Update with Rob West every weekday morning! Get the days local news from the greater Kankakee County, IL area in 10 minutes or less.

Subscribe now on your preferred podcast platform: https://wvlinewsupdate.buzzsprout.com

The Voices You Trust, Beyond The Dial.

We launched This One Time in Kankakee on the WVLI Podcast Network in October 2025, and the stories have been nothing short of wild. In this year-end recap, host Jake LaMore cracks open the vault to count down the Top 3 Most Downloaded Episodes of the year.

If you are new to the show, this is the perfect place to start. We revisit the funny, the historical, and the shocking moments that defined our first season.

In this episode, we cover:

• The Tie for Bronze: Two very different brushes with fame and danger.
  • "Jennifer Hudson came to see our musical": That time Jennifer Hudson surprised the cast of Godspell in Bourbonnais (feat. Andrew McBurnie).
  • "A bank robber called me": That time News Director Rob West received a phone call from a bank robber.
• The Silver Medal: A dive into local history with the Village of Bonfield Banned Rhummy. Discover how a harmless card game in 1938 led to a "rebellion" and a crackdown on local gambling.
• The Gold Medal: The #1 story of the year! The hilarious true confession of the "I kidnapped a plaster cow from Perry Farm Park", where a shopping cart and a bad idea led to a police encounter in a living room (feat. Shane Whitlock).

EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEEK: Stick around to the very end for a teaser of our first episode of 2026. We are sitting down with Tommy Solace to get the real story behind the infamous Aaron Carter fight at The Looney Bin. Was it a brawl? Was it staged? And what does "Bye Felipe" mean? Find out next week.

Links & Resources:

• Submit Your Story: Have a "This One Time in Kankakee" moment? Email jake@milnermediapartners.com
• Listen to the Full Episodes: Scroll back in your feed to hear Episodes 2, 3, 4, and 5 in their entirety.
• Website: wvli927.com/totk3
• Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram

Send us a text

Want more from the WVLI Podcast Network? Listen to the WVLI News Update with Rob West every weekday morning! Get the days local news from the greater Kankakee County, IL area in 10 minutes or less.

Subscribe now on your preferred podcast platform: https://wvlinewsupdate.buzzsprout.com

The Voices You Trust, Beyond The Dial.