A 35-year-old West Chicago man is in custody after threatening motorists with a loaded handgun on a West Chicago street Friday evening.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and West Chicago Chief of Police Colin Fleury announced that the suspect has been charged with one count of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Repeat Felony Offender (Class X Felony); one count of Unlawful Possession of a Weapon by a Felon (Class 2 Felony); one count of Aggravated Unlawful Possession of a Weapon (Class 2 Felony); and multiple Misdemeanor counts including two counts of Aggravated Assault.
On Friday at approximately 8:40pm, West Chicago Police officers on active patrol responded to a call of a man with a gun on Arbor Street. Following an investigation into the call, it is alleged that the witnesses were driving on Arbor Street when the suspect jumped into the road from a grassy area, approached their car and pointed a handgun at them. The victims fled the area and called the police.
Responding officers observed an individual fitting the description of the defendant in the parking lot of a liquor store located at Arbor Street and Washington Street. Officers stopped to speak with the suspect and, after searching him, did not find a weapon. After learning that the suspect had entered the liquor store, officers searched the store and located a loaded handgun with twenty rounds in the magazine behind some bottles on a shelf in the store. It is alleged that the suspect entered the liquor store, hid the gun behind the bottles toward the back of the shelf, and then left the store where he was met by the officers. Further investigation found that the weapon was reported stolen out of Chicago on June 11, 2025.
“It is alleged that [the suspect], a man currently on parole with multiple felony convictions, was illegally in possession of a loaded handgun,” Berlin said. “The thought of an individual with a violent background such as [his], allegedly in possession of a loaded handgun in public is extremely disturbing. By law, as a convicted felon [the suspect] has forfeited his right to ever possess a firearm. Because of his alleged actions [the suspect] now finds himself facing a possible penalty of between six to thirty years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.”
The suspect’s next court appearance is scheduled for July 28, 2025, in front of Judge Margaret O’Connell.
