Evanston Man Indicted On Trio Of Gun Charges After Traffic Stop, Search In Highland Park

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — An Evanston man was last month indicted on a trio of firearm felonies following an encounter with Highland Park police, who searched his car due to the presence of pot.

Henry Carr, 26, of the 1800 block of Monroe Street, was headed north on Skokie Valley Road at Half Day Road shortly after 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 19 when an officer pulled him over for a tinted license plate cover, police reported.

Officers immediately smelled weed wafting from the car and spotted a partially smoked marijuana cigarette in the cupholder between the front seats. Green plant-like material, later identified as cannabis, was also spotted on Carr’s jacket sleeve, according to their reports.

Based on that probable cause, police searched the car and turned up a backpack containing clothes, two packages from dispensaries and a loaded handgun with a large-capacity magazine, they reported.

Neither Carr nor his 20-year-old passenger answered when an officer asked whose gun was in the car, but when he asked about whose backpack it was, Carr reportedly nodded.

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"Why do you have a gun in there?" the officer asked.

"Nah, bro, you tweakin'" Carr replied.

Earlier, the Evanston motorist, who had permission from the car's owner to drive it, had told police that his "spend the night bag" was in the car, according to police reports obtained by Patch.

Carr was taken into custody on the scene after officers confirmed neither he nor passenger had valid Firearm Owner’s Identification, or FOID, cards or a concealed carry license, which they would have been required to carry around a loaded and accessible gun in the car.

Police reported they confiscated the cannabis before letting the passenger drive away with the car, since he was under the legal age required to possess it. Officers did not seize the sheathed machete they found in the trunk.

Carr was issued citations for operating a motor vehicle with registration plate covers and registration suspended for no insurance, along with three class 4 felony charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon: one for possessing a firearm without a concealed carry permit, one for having an uncased and readily accessible firearm, and one for possessing a firearm without a FOID card.

Despite the size of the gun's magazine, Carr was not charged with violating the prohibition on large capacity ammunition feeding devices contained in the Protect Illinois Communities Act, which bans assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

Court records indicate Carr was granted pretrial release following his Oct. 21 detention hearing before he was indicted Nov. 20. His arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 12.