Man Arrested After Gun Found During Evanston Traffic Stop: Police

(STMW) -- A man on probation for a weapons-related conviction was arrested Sunday after police allegedly found an illegal gun in his car during an Evanston traffic stop.

Virgil M. Houston, 21, was charged with one felony count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, according to a statement from Evanston police. He was also charged with misdemeanor counts of having a firearm and ammunition without a FOID card.

Police tried to stop the vehicle he was driving at 4:22 p.m. Sunday on Dodge Avenue near Madison Street, after an officer saw the driver and front seat passenger not wearing seat belts, the statement said.

Instead of pulling over, the vehicle turned into a parking lot and hit a parked car, police said. Officers searched the vehicle and found a loaded .40-caliber, semi-automatic handgun that had been reported stolen from Shelby County, Tennessee.

At the time of the traffic stop, Houston was on probation for a July 2014 conviction for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, police said.

Houston, of the 9400 block of Niles Center Road in Skokie, was also cited for not wearing a seat belt, driving without a valid driver's license and not having proof of insurance, police said.

He was ordered held on a $100,000 bond and will next appear in court Feb. 9, according to the Cook County sheriff's office.

 (Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2015. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)