Two handguns were recovered by the Evanston Police Department over the weekend, one in an arrest and the other through an anonymous tip.

Police arrested Jon Vansach for possession of a handgun at around 11 p.m. Sunday night when officers were patrolling the 1100 block of Dewey Avenue and were investigating a parked vehicle in which the man sat, according to an EPD news release. When police approached the vehicle, they apprehended the 18-year-old Evanston resident who had a clear bag of cannabis in his lap.

“We’ve been focusing a lot on guns, and the officers are out there trying to go around and reduce violence,” Evanston police Cmdr. Joseph Dugan said. “It was a great example of proactive police work.”

After searching the vehicle, police also found a loaded Lorcin nine-millimeter handgun in the glove compartment, in addition to various drug paraphernalia including a grinder and a pipe, Dugan said. Vansach was found to be carrying over 34 grams of marijuana, more than the 10 grams that only warrants a citation instead of a felony.

Vansach was charged with one felony of unlawful use of a weapon, one felony of unlawful possession of cannabis and misdemeanor counts of not possessing a Firearm Owner’s Identification card, unlawful use of a weapon/ammunition and three counts of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, according to the release.

Vansach was taken into custody by EPD, and his bond hearing was held Monday morning, Dugan said.

The second handgun was recovered when police received an anonymous tip at 2:20 a.m. that there was a handgun in an alley near Foster Street and Brown Avenue, according to the news release. Officers were able to recover the loaded Hopkins and Allen .32 caliber revolver in the alley of the 2000 block of Foster Street.

Currently, there are no suspects, Dugan said, but the handgun was sent to the crime laboratory for further analysis.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @robinlopsahl