Loaded AK-Style Rifle Found During Traffic Stop; 3 Teens Arrested

LAKE COUNTY, IL — Three teens faces charges after police found drugs and guns on them during a traffic stop in Zion Sunday night.

A Lake County Sheriff's Office deputy pulled over a car in the area of 27th Street and Galilee Avenue at about 8:15 p.m. on Sunday and requested a K9 to assist with searching the vehicle after three 17-year-old boys inside the car appeared "unusually nervous and were evasive in their responses," according to a news release from the sheriff's office.

The boys were asked to get out of their car. While patting down one of the boys, a deputy felt a gun — which was later determined to be a loaded pistol with an extended magazine containing 23 hollow-point rounds — in his waistband, according to authorities. The boy immediately tried to flee on foot but the deputy tackled him and took him into custody.

Both the driver and another passenger also fled on foot. The driver stopped after a deputy announced he'd use a Taser on the boy, and the other boy was apprehended after a short foot chase.

While searching the car, deputies found a loaded 7.62 caliber AK-style rifle with a 30-round magazine inside the car. They also located about 75 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, cannabis and drug packaging materials, according to a news release.

All boys were taken to the Hulse Juvenile Detention Facility near Vernon Hills. Sheriff’s deputies petitioned all three to juvenile court on the charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest.

The boys live in Chicago, Lindenhurst and unincorporated Antioch, according to police. Additional drug charges are pending, police said.