Alleged Parking Lot Drug Transaction Interrupted by Police

OAK LAWN, IL -- Oak Lawn police busted up a hand-to-hand drug transaction while conducting surveillance of a gas station in the Burbank area, prosecutors said Wednesday in court.

Stacey Halloran, 41, of Burbank, appeared before Cook County Judge Peter Felice on a felony charge of manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance. Co-defendant James Cloney, 46, of Blue Island, was charged with possession of a controlled substance.

Around 8:48 p.m. Dec. 13, Oak Lawn police watched a suspected drug transaction at a Burbank gas station. A woman, later identified as Halloran, drove up and parked in the gas station. Cloney entered the car and emerged a few minutes later, the prosecutor said.

According to police, when officers approached the vehicle, Cloney took off running. Officers watched Cloney allegedly toss an object over the fence of a nearby hotel. Cloney was taken into custody when he slipped on some ice and fell.

The prosecutor said officers arrested Halloran when they noticed cash on the center console. She allegedly admitted to selling Cloney cocaine.

Cloney’s has past convictions in 2013 for possession of fraudulent ID, and forgery in 2014. Bail was set at $200,000.

Halloran was released on a $25,000 I-bond, with electronic monitoring and weekly drug testing. The two are due back in court Jan. 6 in Bridgeview.