Maybe criminals really are just stupid.
It’s hard to draw any other conclusion from the fact that the parking lot at Naperville’s Topgolf is clearly ground zero for Naperville police on the hunt for bad guys, and yet criminals (in this case, an alleged criminal) seem drawn to it like moths to a flame.
In the 23rd arrest made in that parking lot since August 2023, Naperville police took a 36-year-old Dolton man into custody early Sunday morning after allegedly finding him with a weapon and open containers of alcohol on the front console of his car.
According to police, on Sunday at approximately 12:56am, officers on surveillance at Topgolf allegedly observed a white Alfa Romeo enter the parking lot with a male driver, later identified as the suspect, and an unidentified female passenger with a gun in plain view in the center console along with two open cans of an alcoholic beverage, spiked orange juice. Officers began surveillance on the vehicle.
It is alleged that the suspect returned alone to his vehicle, got in the car and started it, at which time Naperville police officers pinned the Alfa Romero in from the front. The suspect then got out of the vehicle and unsuccessfully attempted to throw his car keys to nearby family members to lock the car. As the suspect was being arrested, it is alleged that he attempted to pull away from officers.
According to police, officers located a fully-loaded Taurus 40THC .40 Caliber handgun with a fifteen-round magazine in the vehicle, along with more than ten grams but less than thirty grams of a substance containing cannabis in the suspect’s possession at the time of his arrest.
The suspect has been charged with Armed Habitual Criminal (Class X Felony); Misdemeanor counts of Resisting a Police Officer, Obstructing a Police Officer, Possession of Cannabis and one petty offense of Transportation of Possession of Open Alcohol by a Driver. The suspect’s criminal history includes three Unlawful Use of a Weapon convictions, which make him eligible for the Armed Habitual Criminal Charge. Judge Joshua Dieden has granted the State’s motion to detain the suspect pre-trial.
“With multiple felony weapons convictions, [the suspect] is legally prohibited from possessing a firearm,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin said. “The allegations that he was in possession of a loaded weapon at a family-friendly recreation facility are extremely troubling and, in consideration of his past criminal history, if he is found guilty of today’s charges, [the suspect] will find himself facing up to thirty years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.”
[The suspect’s] next court appearance is scheduled for September 16, 2024, for arraignment in front of Judge Brian Telander.
