Man 'Driving, Listening To Music, Shooting' Arrested: Police

LIBERTYVILLE, IL – A 31-year-old Waukegan man is in custody for "driving, listening to music and shooting" a gun into the air in the area of the Independence Grove Forest Preserve in Libertyville over the weekend, police said. Sergio Hurtado-Vega, of the 100 block of Philippa Avenue in Waukegan, has been charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm, a Class 1 felony, and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, a Class 4 felony in connection with the Saturday night shooting, according to a news release from the Lake County Sheriff's Office. Police said they received a 911 call at about 7:30 p.m. on Saturday from a caller who witnessed the incident on Route 137.

Authorities pulled the vehicle, a red Toyota, over in the area of Green Bay Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in North Chicago at about 7:30 p.m. and took Hurtado-Vega into custody, police said.

An investigation revealed Hurtado-Vega fired a total of eight rounds from a 9mm pistol while driving. Christopher Covelli, spokesman for the Lake County Sheriff's Office, said no one was injured in the incident and that Hurtado-Vega did not aim his gun at anyone in particular.

"He was shooting into the air from his vehicle. He said he was driving, listening to music, and shooting," Covelli told Patch in an e-mail response Monday morning. The man did make statements to police regarding "earlier drug use," Covelli added.

Hurtado-Vega is being held on a $250,000 bail at the Lake County Jail. He is next expected in court on Aug. 1.

Photo via the Lake County Sheriff's Office