Evanston Police Department officers recovered a loaded handgun in an incident Wednesday evening, and another a few hours later early Thursday morning.

Shortly before 7 p.m. on Wednesday, a 16-year-old Evanston resident was asked by EPD officers to exit the back of a vehicle during a traffic stop on the 1800 block of Dodge Ave., about two blocks away from Evanston Township High School. According to an EPD news release, he dropped a handgun to the ground as he stepped out of the vehicle. The teenager was taken into custody and charged with two felonies of unlawful uses of weapon, a misdemeanor for failing to have a valid Firearm Owner’s identification card, and a traffic citation for failing to wear a seat belt.

In the second incident, EPD officers approached a group of people who were in Beck Park, 2428 Emerson St., early Thursday morning, when the park is closed. As they did so, 18-year-old Chicago resident Dijon N. Caffie fled from the officers, and was stopped by an officer on the 2300 block of Foster St. According to the news release, Caffie was tasered after refusing to comply with officers, arrested and charged with a misdemeanor of resisting arrest by a peace officer, and two city violations for being in a park after hours and disobedience to the police in public.

According to Evanston police Cmdr. Joseph Dugan, Caffie was observed reaching into his waistband as he ran away from the officers, and a handgun was recovered in the area. The handgun is currently under investigation and has not been identified as being in Caffie’s possession.

Dugan told The Daily EPD officers had been doing “proactive police work” to get “guns off the street.”

“It’s been successful in that regard,” he said.

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