A Morton Grove resident and a Palatine resident were arrested for handgun possession in Evanston on Friday, according to a police news release.

The first arrest occurred around 6:45 p.m. when Evanston Police Department’s tactical unit noticed a passenger in a vehicle not wearing a seatbelt, according to the release. When the vehicle was pulled over in the 3000 block of Oakton Street in Skokie, officers recovered a small amount of cannabis from the driver and an open bottle of alcohol from the front-seat passenger.

The back-seat passenger informed officers he had a duffle bag with cannabis in it. When the officers recovered the bag, it had cannabis, a digital scale and a loaded handgun inside it. All three men were then taken into custody.

The 23-year-old backseat passenger is being charged with one felony, two counts of possession of a firearm without correct identification, a Class A misdemeanor and a traffic citation, according to the release. The other two men were given citations for city ordinance violations.

The second separate arrest occurred just after 11:00 p.m. in northwest Evanston when a vehicle was pulled over for having only one working headlight.

The back-seat passenger began walking away from the vehicle. When officers tried to stop him, he began to run, according to the release. The man was then pursued on foot into a residence in the 1700 block of Lyons Street, where officers observed the 28-year-old discard a handgun.

The man was then taken into custody and charged with two class 3 felonies and two counts of possession of a firearm without correct identification.

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