Loaded Glock Found In Registered Violent Offender's Car: Cops

EVERGREEN PARK, IL -- A Chicago man asleep behind the wheel in traffic was arrested after police found a loaded Glock on the front passenger seat, prosecutors said. Lionell Nolden, 51, appeared before Cook County Judge Donald Havis on a charge of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. Nolden is a registered violent offender with the Illinois State Police.

Around 5:30 a.m. April 8 near 95th Street and Albany Avenue in Evergreen Park, police saw a vehicle stopped in traffic . The driver crossed over to the other lane. When police approached the driver, later identified as Nolden, he was swaying and falling asleep, the prosecutor said.

Officers asked Nolden if there was anything they needed to be aware of. The prosecutor said Nolden reached into his waistband. Police told Nolden to keep his hands where they could be seen. An officer reached around Nolden and found an empty holster. Nolden allegedly pointed to the passenger seat where a 9mm Glock was laying in plain view next to him. The prosecutor said officers found one round in the chamber and a loaded magazine.

Nolden was convicted of murder in 1996 and sentenced to 38 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, according to court records. The Illinois Murderer and Violence Against Youth Registry indicates that Nolden was 26 and his victim was 40 at the time of the offense. He was released in 2012 and his parole discharged in 2015.

Bail was set at $100,000. Nolden is due back in court May 3 in Bridgeview.