Teens Armed With 'Ghost Guns' Arrested At Edens Plaza In Wilmette

SKOKIE, IL — Wilmette police found a two untraceable "ghost guns" during an encounter with a pair of Lake County teens trespassing inside an Edens Plaza business, prosecutors said.

Eric Jimenez, 18, and Erik Garcia, 18, both Mundelein residents, have been charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in connection with the Saturday afternoon incident, records show.

According to Assistant State's Attorney Moira Dunn, a witness noticed a red Cadillac stop on the shoulder on the northbound lanes of the Edens Expressway just north of Lake Avenue in Wilmette.

"Two people got out of the vehicle, jumped a fence and then ran into a nearby shoe store," Dunn said Monday at a bond hearing in Skokie.

Jimenez and Garcia ran into Road Runner Sports, a shoe store, and the witness called police, according to the prosecutor. When they arrived, officers found the Mundelein teens inside the employee section of the store at 3232 Lake Ave.

"[Jimenez and Garcia] told officers they went back to the shoe store to use the bathroom," Dunn said.

During the conversation, Jimenez went to the store's bathroom, but upon his return officers noticed he smelled like marijuana and Jimenez admitted having some, the prosecutor said.

After exiting the store, Jimenez tried to take off running, according to the prosecutor, but officers tackled him as he reached for his waistband, where police found a loaded Polymer80 "ghost gun."

While officers were handcuffing Jimenez, Garcia began to walk away, ignoring police demands to stop and also clutching his waistband, Dunn said. Garcia was also carrying a Polymer80 loaded with 15 rounds.

---

Such "ghost guns" lack serial numbers and are often assembled with a kit, constructed out of unfinished frames or receivers and can be purchased without undergoing a background check.

According to research from gun control advocacy organizations, the number of "ghost guns" used in crimes tripled between 2020 and 2021.

An Everytown Research & Policy report found the number of Polymer80 crime guns rose from zero in 2017 to 757 in 2021 in the 17 cities participating in the study.

The prosecutor said Both Jimenez and Garcia have juvenile criminal records, with Jimenez being sentenced to a year in juvenile detention after being petitioned delinquent for possession of a stolen firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, most recently.

Garcia has a 2021 misdemeanor conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol but this is his first gun charge, a fact acknowledged by Circuit Judge Lorraine Murphy at his bond hearing as she set the cash portion of his bond at $1,000.

"Mr. Jimenez is a different story. He's got a 2022 stolen firearm — if that was an adult that'd be I think a class 2 or class 3 [felony] — which turned into a juvenile [prison] sentence, another gun charge in 2022, which is a class 4 [aggravated unlawful use of a weapon], and then another gun actually discharged in 2020," Murphy said.

Jimenez works in a manufacturing plant, and Garcia has previously worked in landscaping and is currently in school, with plans to attend trade school in the future, according to their court-appointed attorney.

"The fact is," the judge said, "this, for both of them, is extremely aggravated by the fact that these are 'ghost guns.'"