Cops: Gun Fell From Waistband Of 'Armed Habitual Criminal'

NILES, IL — A Chicago man was arrested in a Niles parking lot after a loaded handgun fell out of his waistband, police said.

Octaven Johnson, 28, of the 9400 block of Howard Street, was charged with one count of being an armed habitual criminal after his arrest May 28, according to police and court records.

Niles police said they responded to a call of a suspicious parked car in a parking lot of a business on the 9500 block of Milwaukee around 11 a.m. They found three men from Chicago in the car and asked them to exit the vehicle.

As Johnson exited the passenger side, a loaded, semiautomatic handgun fell from his waistband, according to Niles Police Cmdr. Robert Tornabene.

Johnson tried to run away but fled only about 50 feet before being apprehended, Tornabene said.

All three men were taken into custody. Prosecutors approved felony charges against Johnson while the other two occupants of the car, aged 23 and 27, were released without charges.

Acting as an armed habitual criminal is a class X felony that carries a minimum sentence of six years imprisonment. The charge is triggered by having two or more previous convictions for violent or drug crimes.

Johnson is being held on $90,000 bond at Cook County Jail. His next court date is set for June 22 in Skokie.

Top photo Octaven Johnson | Cook County Sheriff