Cops Find Stolen Gun, Cocaine, Live Cat in Babysitter's Trunk: Report

Ceiarra Herring, 28 | Cook County Sheriff

An Oak Lawn babysitter was nabbed in a traffic stop while moving her stash of cocaine, a loaded gun which she didn’t know was stolen, and a cat to a local motel, reports said.

Ceiarra Herring, 28, appeared in bond court last week on charges of armed violence and manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance.

While on patrol, officers saw a 2012 white Chevy Camaro “hastily” making a left turn northbound on Cicero Avenue from 103rd Street around 4:25 p.m. Feb. 16, reports said.

Police said that Herring was clocked driving 45mph in a 35-mph speed zone before officers stopped her car at 98th Street and Cicero Avenue.

According to an Oak Lawn police report, while running her plate, officers learned that Herring had been stopped before for possession of drug equipment.

Herring provided a valid insurance card but told police she did not have her driver’s license with her at the moment, police said.

She allegedly gave a fake name to the officer and the information that came back did not match the registered owner’s description. Police said she told the officer that she did not have anything from an official agency with her name on it.

After exiting her vehicle, officers found a letter addressed to Herring. When police asked whose name was on the envelope, Herring allegedly told the officer it was her “baby daddy’s ex-girlfriend.”

She eventually admitted her true identity, and told police she used her cousin’s identity because her license was suspended, reports said.

Herring was taken into custody. Police said as officers searched her trunk, they found a gym bag with a purse containing Herring’s bank card.

Inside the gym bag officers found two digital scales covered with a white powdery residue and bag of syringes. Upon seeing the scales and syringes, Herring said, “oh, s--t,” police said.

Also recovered was a knotted plastic baggie containing 26 grams of suspected cocaine, along with another baggie containing a rock weight 1.2 grams. Both substances field tested positive for cocaine, according to the police.

As officers continued search the trunk they found a knit cap wrapped around a .38 special Smith and Wesson blue steel revolver loaded with six live rounds, reports said.

The officers unloaded the gun and continued their search, where police said they found two more scales and an open bottle of Inositol powder commonly used to cut cocaine.

Also found was a live cat, which was turned over to Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge.

A police K9 hit on an envelope containing $2,450 in cash in the Camaro’s front seat, that Herring later told police was her tax refund, reports said.

At the Oak Lawn police station, officers learned the gun allegedly recovered from Herring’s trunk was reported stolen out of St. Louis, MO.

Police said that Herring allegedly admitted to purchasing cocaine from a Lansing drug dealer and was selling it to raise money.

After she was asked to leave her last motel, Herring said, she was in the process of moving to a new motel when she was stopped by police. She admitted knowing the loaded gun was in the gym bag but had never intended to use it. She was just holding it for her boyfriend and didn’t know it had been reported stolen, reports said.

According to police, Herring said she has a heroin problem but doesn’t use cocaine because it makes her sick.

During her bond hearing, the assistant public defender told the judge that Herring supported her 2 1/2 -year-old twins by babysitting. She said the vehicle did not belong to her.

The judge set bail at $50,000. Herring’s next court hearing is March 16 in Bridgeview.