Wilmette Man With Assault Weapon, Weed, Meth Crashes In Evanston: Cops

EVANSTON, IL — A Wilmette man involved in a early morning one-car crash in Evanston faces a return to state prison after police reported they found a rifle and drugs in his SUV.

Stephanos Baslaal, 27, drove a Jeep Grand Cherokee into a curb in the 2700 block of Sheridan Road shortly before 3 a.m. on Oct. 25, leaving its axel cracked and the car undrivable, authorities said.

While speaking to Baslaal about getting his car towed, officers smelled both fresh and burnt cannabis and spotted bits of marijuana on the floorboard and in console, according to police and prosecutors.

Police also spotted a black gun box in the car. Baslaal appeared nervous when police asked if there was anything illegal in the car, prosecutors said.

Officers then searched the interior of the Jeep and found a folding Keltec Sub 2000 9mm rifle inside a bookbag in its trunk area.

The collapsible semiautomatic pistol caliber carbine is among the guns defined as "assault weapons" and banned in Chicago, Cook County and Evanston.

Police also found an extended magazine with live ammunition and a locked bookbag before taking Baslaal into custody.

Baslaal is prohibited from owning any firearms as a result of previous felony convictions. He was sentenced to four years in state prison for robbery and one year for unlawful possession of a controlled substance, according to prosecutors. In a separate case, Baslaal pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery and served 100 days in jail in exchange for prosecutors reducing felony charges.

According to Skokie Patch, Baslaal was arrested and charged with the drug possession offense in October 2017. In the robbery case, he and another men were arrested in August 2018 and accused of snatching a woman's purse in an Old Orchard shopping center parking lot structure before using her credit cards at outlet stores. He was paroled from state prison in 2020 after serving 50 percent of the robbery sentence, as is common for most offenses.

Prosecutors said Baslaal was awaiting trial on a charge of driving under the influence at the time of his arrest in Evanston.

Detectives conducted a court-authorized search of the locked bag they had retrieved from the Jeep and found a pair of brass knuckles, two pipes, 6 grams of cannabis and 3 grams of apparent methamphetamine, according to police.

Baslaal was charged with two felonies as a result of his recent arrest in Evanston — aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and possession of a controlled substance. He was also charged with misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and unlicensed possession of a gun and ammunition, as well as local ordinance citation for unlawful cannabis transportation, police said.

There is no indication he is being prosecuted for violations of any of the various local prohibitions on "assault weapons."

Following an initial court appearance last week in Skokie, Baslaal was ordered to remain detailed at the Cook County Jail's residential treatment unit unless he can come up with the $7,500 cash portion of his bond. He is due back in court Wednesday.