Loaded Stolen Guns, Cocaine Recovered During Traffic Stop: APD

AURORA, IL — Three loaded guns and narcotics were recovered when Aurora police pulled a sedan over for a traffic stop Aug. 30 near Route 30 and Route 31 in Montgomery, officials said Thursday evening.

Special Operations Group investigators conducted the stop at about 10:57 p.m. after seeing a 2022 Nissan Sentra make multiple traffic violations. The car was occupied by five people, including two teens and two documented gang members, according to a news release.

While searching the car, police say officers located three loaded semi-automatic handguns: one in the backpack of a 17-year-old boy, a second in the waistband of a 16-year-old boy and a third under the front driver's seat. Police said a 21-year-old man, from Aurora, was carrying a small bag of suspected cocaine, and a 19-year-old man, also an Aurora resident, had an active warrant out for his arrest.

The adults were members of a gang, police said. None of the passengers had a valid Firearm Owners Identification card or concealed carry license.

In total, officers recovered more than three grams of suspected narcotics and ammunition in addition to the firearms, two of which were reported stolen out of Texas. The black Glock 23Gen4 was stolen from Duncanville and a pink SCCY CPX-1 from Dallas. The third gun was identified as a black Taurus G2C.

The 16- and 17-year-old passengers were each charged with possession of a firearm without a valid FOID and three counts of aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon. Both were taken to the Kane County Juvenile Justice Center.

The other occupants of the car were released as the incident remains under investigation and possible additional charges are pending lab results and forensic review, police said. The Nissan was towed and impounded.

"This was a dangerous situation that could have easily escalated," Aurora Police Chief Matthew Thomas said in a statement. "Recovering three loaded guns — two of them stolen — in a single stop is a reminder of the risks our officers face and the importance of proactive policing. I'm proud of the work our investigators did to safely resolve this incident and get these weapons off the street."

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Aurora Police Department's investigations division at 630-256-5500.