2 Guns Altered With Switches Seized Near Ingalls, 1 Teen Gets Away: Joliet Police

JOLIET —One criminal suspect has gone into hiding hoping the Joliet Police Department cannot find him in connection with Thursday's early evening traffic stop along Ingalls Avenue and North William Street. After the traffic stop, two people ran from the vehicle, according to Joliet police.

According to Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English, one 17-year-old boy was arrested, processed and taken to the River Valley Justice Center on charges of unlawful use of a weapon-machine gun and obstructing a peace officer.

As for the events surrounding the arrest and the recovery of not just one, but two separate loaded guns, English said at 5:43 p.m., the officers stopped a Honda Accord near North William Street and Ingalls Avenue for a suspended registration violation. At that point, English said, two passengers got out of the passenger side of the vehicle, ignoring commands by the officers to remain inside.

One ran away while holding his waistband. Officers chased after him and saw him throw a handgun over a fence into the backyard of a nearby house, according to English.

The male stopped running and was taken into custody without further incident, and was determined to be 17 years old. The second male who got out of the vehicle ran from the traffic stop as well, police said.

Officers were unable to locate the second male. English said officers searched the yard where the 17-year-old boy had thrown the handgun, and they recovered a loaded handgun that appeared to be modified with a switch device converting the weapon to fully automatic firing.

Upon search of the Honda, Joliet police say they recovered a second loaded handgun that also appeared to be modified with an automatic fire switch. This handgun in the area of the vehicle where the other male suspect had previously been sitting.

The driver, Brennan Torres-Havemann, 25, of Romeoville was cited for Driving While License Suspended and Operating a Motor Vehicle when Registration Suspended and the vehicle was towed from the scene.

"This case currently remains under active investigation," English noted.