Gun With Defaced Serial Number Found in 19-Year-Old Burbank Man's Car: Police

OAK LAWN, IL -- A 19-year-old Burbank man was arrested Tuesday afternoon during a traffic stop after police found a gun with a defaced serial number in his car, prosecutors said.

Alvaro Rangel appeared before Cook County Judge Donald Havis on a charges of possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number. He was also cited for having an obstructed front windshield and tinted windows.

Oak Lawn police pulled over a black Honda Accord around 1:54 p.m. Tuesday for tinted windows that appeared darker than the limit allowable by law. Rangel and another 19-year-old man were in the car, police said. When police searched the car, officers said they found a .40-caliber gun wedged between the front passenger seat cushion and the back plastic seat cover.

According to the prosecutor, there was an extended 30-round clip on the gun with 25 live rounds. The serial number had also been scratched off the gun's barrel and stock. The prosecutor said another label with the gun’s serial number had also been removed. Rangel did have a valid FOID card.

“I can only think of one reason why you would have one those things, according to what the assistant state’s attorney has proffered,” Judge Havis told the defendant. “In Cook County, the magazine can’t be more than 10 rounds.”

“Unless you’re going to a shooting range,” the assistant public defender argued. “This is a probational offense.”

Rangel has no prior criminal background. The prosecutor asked for special conditions of bond, including Rangel surrendering his FOID card and conceal-carry permit, and any other weapons to the local police department. Bail was set at $10,000, Rangel is due back in court May 10.

Burbank police are also aware of Rangel’s arrest in Oak Lawn, following a pair of drive-by shootings that happened there on April 22 and April 24. The first shooting occurred Saturday at Uncle Sam’s Gyros when two groups exchanged gunfire. On Monday afternoon,a man was shot in the leg by someone in a passing car. The wounded man is said to not be cooperating with police, Burbank Beat reported.

“We’re looking into the Oak Lawn incident and several other leads,” said Division Chief Mike Dudlo of the Burbank Police Department.