Cops: Driver Arrested For Illegal Gun After Failing To Signal, Smelling Of Weed

EVANSTON, IL — A Chicago man was found with an illegal gun in Evanston after police smelled marijuana on him, police said. Shortly before 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Evanston patrol officers pulled over a vehicle for failing to property use a turn signal in the 400 block of Chicago Avenue.

When police walked up and spoke to the driver, identified as 33-year-old Kashif A. Bhatti, of the 6600 block of North Whipple Street, they detected the smell of burnt marijuana from inside his vehicle. Police said Bhatti's hands were visibly shaking and he was shifting around his seat while speaking very fast.

Police searched the vehicle and found a plastic bag with three grams of marijuana and a metal pipe used for smoking it in the center console, according to a news release from the Evanston Police Department. (Sign up for our free daily newsletters and breaking news alerts for the Evanston Patch or another local community.)

In the back seat of his vehicle, police found a set of nunchucks, a ski mask, gloves and two folding knives. In the trunk, officers found a loaded and holstered Beretta .40 caliber handgun, along with a plastic Halloween-style skull mask, police said.

Bhatti was taken into custody and transported to the Evanston Police Department, while a passenger in the vehicle was released without charges, according to the release.

Bhatti was cited for failing to signal and unlawful possession of cannabis, while his firearm charge was aggravated to a felony because of the presence of drugs, police said.

He was charged with one felony count, unlawful use of a weapon, and two misdemeanors, unlawful use of a weapon for the nunchucks in the vehicle and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia for the pipe, according to police.

Top photo: Kashif A. Bhatti (Evanston PD)