Guns recovered in separate Evanston traffic stops

(SUN TIMES MEDIA WIRE) - Police seized handguns in two separate traffic stops Friday night in north suburban Evanston.

The first stop happened at 6:47 p.m. when officers saw that someone inside a westbound vehicle in the 2400 block of Oakton Street wasn’t wearing a seat belt, according to a statement from Evanston police. They stopped the vehicle in the 3000 block of Oakton in Skokie and, upon approaching it, smelled marijuana inside.

The 24-year-old driver told officers he had “a small amount” of pot in his pocket and the front-seat passenger, also 24, was found to have an open bottle of brandy in his pant leg, police said.

The back-seat passenger, 23-year-old Virgil M. Houston, also told the officers he had marijuana in a duffel bag in the back seat, police said. Officers searched the bag and found packaging materials, a scale and a glass jar containing marijuana. They also found a loaded .380-caliber Jennings-Bryco handgun under the rear half of the front passenger seat.

Houston, who lives in Skokie, was charged with a felony count of unlawful use of a weapon by an armed habitual criminal, police said. He also faces two counts of possession of a firearm or ammunition without a FOID card and possession of drug paraphernalia, all misdemeanors, and was cited for failure to wear a seat belt.

The driver was also cited for marijuana possession, while the other passenger was cited for having open alcohol in a vehicle, police said.

The second traffic stop happened at 11:09 p.m. when officers pulled over a vehicle at Lyons Street and Darrow Avenue for only having one headlight, police said.

As the vehicle was stopping, 28-year-old Kevin MJ Logan “quickly exited the vehicle and began to walk away while adjusting his waistband,” police said.

The officers tried to stop Logan, at which point he started running, police said. The officers chased him to the rear of a home in the 1700 block of Lyons Street, where they saw him throw a loaded Ruger .380-caliber handgun. They eventually took him into custody and recovered the gun.

Logan, of Palatine, was charged with one felony count each of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, police said. He was also charged with two misdemeanor counts of possession of a firearm or ammunition without a FOID card.

Bond for Houston was set at $125,000, while Logan was ordered held on a $100,000 bond, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office. Both men were expected to appear in court Tuesday.