Harvey Man Stashes Stolen Gun, Pot In Lady Friend's Purse: Police

OAK LAWN, IL -- A Harvey man arrested with a stolen gun after a controlled drug buy threatened police from the Oak Lawn lockup, prosecutors said. LaShon Curtis, 32, appeared before Cook County Judge Peter Felice on felony charges of armed violence, possession of a controlled substance, possession of cannabis and intent to deliver. Curtis appeared in court in a wheelchair.

Curtis allegedly sold a gram of cocaine to undercover cop on Dec. 16. Curtis was behind the wheel of his car when Oak Lawn police pulled him over after the transaction, the prosecutor said. As police approached the car, they reportedly smelled an odor of cannabis. The prosecutor said when police searched the purse of Curtis’s passenger, they found a loaded gun and 120 grams of cannabis in the woman’s purse. According to police, the woman said hat Curtis put the gun and marijuana into her purse as officers approached his car. The marked money used in the drug buy was also found in the car, police said.

The prosecutor said the gun came back as stolen in October. While Curtis was in the Oak Lawn lock-up, police allege that Curtis demanded to see the police reports so he could get the arresting officers afterward.

Curtis’s attorney told the judge that her client has turned his life around since his various prison stints and has “changed for the better.”

“I take offense to all that,” she said of the charges. “He had no idea what was in the purse.”

Curtis is being held without bail. He is due back in court Jan. 11 in Bridgeview.