Firearm Found After Stolen Car Flees Police In Niles, Charges Filed

NILES, IL — Officers arrested a man after he fled police in a stolen car with a gun in it Friday morning in Niles, authorities said.

Alexander Weatherspoon, 28, of the 8300 block of South Burnham Avenue in Chicago, first came into contact with police when officers were dispatched to a call about a suspicious SUV with shredded tires parked in the 7900 block of Neva Avenue around 8 a.m.

Police said they found an Escalade, which they later determined to be stolen, with two flat tires and darkly tinted windows.

When officers tried to speak with the man in the driver's seat, he started the car and drove away, police said.

The first officers to make contact with Weatherspoon did not give chase, but other who were on their way to assist spotted the stolen Escalade heading west on Howard Street before turning north on Milwaukee Avenue, according to police.

When police found the SUV in an alley behind a business in the 7600 block of Milwaukee Avenue, Weatherspoon took off running and was apprehended outside a nearby bank.

Police reported they found handgun magazines and five rounds of 9mm ammunition inside the car, and a loaded 9mm Glock pistol was found in the 7700 block of Nora Avenue near pieces of shredded tire.

Prosecutors approved charges of aggravated possession of a stolen motor vehicle and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Weatherspoon was also charged with fleeing to elude a police officer and driving with a revoked.

Weatherspoon made his first appearance in court Saturday, where he was granted pretrial release after a judge denied prosecutors' petition for his detention.