2 Guns, 1 Night: Illegal Firearms Found By Evanston Cops

EVANSTON, IL — Evanston police pulled two loaded handguns off the street and arrested two teenagers in connection with the weapons in less than an hour and a half over the weekend. In both cases, between 10:55 p.m. and 12:10 a.m. on Friday night, police said the teens fled on foot but were apprehended. One, an 18-year-old Des Plaines resident, faces a felony and two misdemeanor firearm offense, while a 16-year-old Chicago boy was charged as a juvenile with a single gun possession felony.

The juvenile was arrested in the first incident, which police said began when detectives from the Evanston Police Department's tactical unit noticed an SUV in the 600 block of Howard Street missing a rear registration light and saw one of the passengers was not wearing a seat belt. The tactical union pulled over the SUV in the 7400 block of Seeley Avenue in Chicago, according to Evanston Police Cmdr. Joseph Dugan.

Police said they say a passenger in the back of the SUV throw a handgun into the open truck area in the back of the vehicle. That passenger, later identified as the 16-year-old for Chicago, tried to flee on foot but was quickly taken into custody by detectives. Police said they found a loaded Glock .40 caliber gun in the SUV, took the teen to the juvenile detection center and petitioned him to juvenile court for a single count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. The driver, a 34-year-old Evanston man, was ticketed for the rear registration light. A third passenger was released without charges, police said. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Evanston — or your community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

The second incident resulting in a recovered firearm occurred about 75 minutes later, according to police. Officers were on patrol in an alley west of the 1800 block of Ashland Avenue when they noticed a group of people. As police drove by, they noticed the handle of a handgun poking out of the pocket of a hooded sweatshirt worn by one of the people.

Police said the person with the gun, later identified as an 18-year-old from Des Plaines, took off running eastbound through neighboring yards. Police said they found him hiding in the bushes in front of a home in the 1800 block of Ashland Avenue. A loaded Ruger .380 caliber handgun was also found at the scene by police, according to Dugan.

Anthony D. Henley Jr, 18, of the 1300 block of Fargo Avenue in Des Plaines, was charged with one count of felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of misdemeanor possession of a handgun and ammunition without a valid firearm owner's identification card.

_{Top photo: A Glock .40 caliber handgun (left) and a Ruger .380 handgun Evanston police say they recovered on Aug. 25 and Aug. 26 | via Evanston PD}