A 16-year-old boy was arrested Thursday afternoon after he tried to get rid of a loaded gun while officers chased him, police said.
Members of the Evanston Police Department’s Tactical Unit spotted the teen disrupting traffic on his bicycle at about 2:30 p.m. in the 2000 block of Emerson Street, according to police. When the officers attempted to stop and frisk the boy, he ran away.
As they followed him on foot, officers saw the teen remove a loaded .22-caliber handgun and drop it in the 1800 block of Hovland Court, police said. He was arrested nearby in the 1800 block of Brown Avenue and taken to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago.
Police did not identify the boy because of his age but said they were familiar with him before Thursday’s incident.
Cmdr. Jay Parrott said the teen’s arrest was a “direct result” of EPD’s recent expansion of its stop-and-frisk strategy.
The boy was charged with aggravated unlawful use of weapons and additional misdemeanor offenses. He will appear in juvenile court in Chicago, police said.
— Ciara McCarthy
