2 Guns Found Within 3 Blocks When Cops Smell Weed: Police

EVANSTON, IL — An Evanston woman and a Chicago man were arrested and charged with firearm felonies within minutes of each other on Memorial Day by police investigating a car that fled a traffic stop for illegally tinted windows, police said. The arrests took place about three blocks from one another between around 8:30 p.m. on Monday following separate stops. In both cases, police reported smelling marijuana before finding illegal guns.

The incidents began around 8:13 p.m. when cops tried to stop a black Dodge suspected of having illegally tinted windows in the 100 block of Chicago Avenue. The driver refused to stop and fled the scene.

Then around 8:30 p.m., police searching for the vehicle noticed the smell of cannabis coming from a parked white Hyundai in the 800 block of Hinman Avenue and decided to further investigate, according to police. Officers detained a man who had just gotten out of the car and walked away.

When police checked out the car, they noticed a handgun magazine inside the interior, police said. They retrieved the magazine and found a loaded .40 caliber handgun, as well as a few grams of suspected marijuana and took the man into custody.

Elijah Murphy, 22, of the 5600 block of South Indiana in Chicago, was charged with felony counts of unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful use of a weapon by an armed habitual criminal. He denied possessing the gun, according to police.

Murphy was returned to the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections for a violation of the terms of his parole from a 2016 gun charge. According to IDOC, he was released on parole just over a month before his arrest. Evanston police said he was also issued a citation for possession of cannabis and is due back in court on June 18.

Meanwhile, officers caught up to the black Dodge that fled a traffic stop in the 800 block of Main a few blocks to the west from where Murphy was arrested, police said.

Police spoke to the driver while investigating possible traffic offenses and smelled weed coming from inside the car. A search turned up a 9 mm handgun and about 6 grams of suspected cannabis. The driver was taken into custody and denied possessing the pistol.

China Irving, 24, of the 2000 block of Foster Street in Evanston, was charged with felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and two misdemeanor counts of possessing a gun or ammunition without a Firearm Owners Identification Card, police said.

Irving was also issued a citation cannabis possession and three traffic traffics – for failing to signal, having illegally tinted windows and not having insurance. Police said she was released on her own recognizance ahead of a July 12 court date.