Armed Fugitive From New York Found In Waukegan: Sheriff

WAUKEGAN, IL — A fugitive from New York was arrested Thursday after he was found hiding out in Waukegan, the Lake County sheriff's office announced. Found with a gun whose serial number had been obliterated, deputies said, the man now faces fresh felony charges in Illinois.

Eduardo Gutierrez, 21, of New Rochelle, New York, had been wanted on charges of bail jumping, criminal gun possession and conspiracy to sell drugs. He was tracked down through cooperation by local and federal law enforcement agencies, according to the sheriff's office.

Earlier in January, the warrants team at the sheriff's office got word from the U.S. Marshals Service's fugitive task force in New York and New Jersey that Gutierrez might have fled to the Waukegan area, a sheriff's office spokesperson said.

An investigation by sheriff's deputies determined the wanted man was staying at a home in the 500 block of Oak Street, where he was found and taken into custody shortly after 6 a.m. Thursday, according to Sgt. Chris Covelli.

Deputies found Gutierrez in possession of a semi-automatic pistol without a serial number and a loaded magazine, according to authorities.

Prosecutors approved felony charges of possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, a class 3 felony, and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, a class 4 felony, records show.

Gutierrez also faces a charge of fugitive from justice in connection with the extraditable warrant issued by authorities in Westchester County, New York. Records there show he was indicted in June 2019 and sentenced last month.

At a bond hearing Thursday, a judge ordered Gutierrez held at the Lake County Jail in lieu of the $100,000 cash portion of his bond on the Illinois charges and held without bail on the fugitive charge. He is due back in court on Jan. 22.