An Evanston man was charged with an unlawful use of a weapon Sunday afternoon.

The man was riding in a car “traveling at a high rate of speed” heading west on Greenwood Street, Evanston Police Cmdr. Brian Henry said. The car reportedly went through three stop signs without stopping before the Evanston Police Department made a traffic stop near the intersection of McCormick Boulevard and Dempster Street.

When officers approached the driver, they noticed the front-seat passenger reaching toward the floor mat, according to Henry. The officers then instructed the passenger not to do that, Henry said.

The officers “smelled the presence of (cannabis) in the vehicle (and) observed loose (cannabis) by the passenger’s foot,” Henry said.

When the passenger moved his feet around, the officers noticed a handgun sticking out of the floor mat, Henry said. The officers told the man to get out of the car, and they discovered a pistol on the car’s floor, police said.

The four passengers — the driver, the front-seat passenger and two passengers in the back — were taken into custody, Henry said. Only the front-seat passenger was charged because he did not have a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card or a Concealed Carry License, Henry said.

Vehicle theft

A car was stolen sometime between last Wednesday and Monday.

A Skokie man in his 40s reported to EPD that his black 2014 Audi A4 was stolen when he was out of town, Henry said. The man parked his car outside of a residence in the 700 block of Asbury Avenue Wednesday around 4 p.m.

The man then returned to where he parked his car Monday at approximately 5:30 p.m. and discovered his car was missing, Henry said.

The man had the car keys with him while he was out of town, and the car has no tracking device on it, Henry said.

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