Observant Officers Get Guns, Ammo Off The Streets: Police

AURORA, IL — Aurora police were crediting observant patrol officers with making the streets safer this week. Police said two officers saw a driver fail to use his signal, then blow a stop sign near Douglas Road and Sherman Avenue at around 10:15 a.m. Aug. 24. The officers initiated a traffic stop, and "When the car came to a stop in a bank parking lot in the 1300 block of Douglas, its two occupants made suspicious movements as the officers approached," police said.

Based on those movements, the officers searched the two men, 21-year-old Devonte Valentine — who allegedly initially gave officers a fake name — of the 1100 block of Homer Avenue and 20-year-old Derrick Washington of the 1500 block of Stoneridge Circle in Yorkville. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"During a search of Washington, a gun was found in one of his pockets, so both men were handcuffed for the safety of the officers," police said. A search of the car turned up two more handguns and multiple rounds of ammunition, according to police.

Washington and Valentine were both charged with two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Valentine was also charged with disobeying a stop sign, failure to signal and no insurance, police said.