A repeatedly convicted gun offender and gang member is facing Class X felony charges for allegedly pointing a gun at the 17th District (Albany Park) police station on Monday morning. State records show the man is on parole for his third adult gun case.
Prosecutors said an on-duty cop was outside around 9:30 a.m. when they saw a man pointing a gun at the station from the driver’s window of a vehicle moving down an alley behind the station at 4650 North Pulaski. The officer broadcast a description of the car to other officers as it sped from the scene. A police surveillance camera recorded the incident and clearly shows a man pointing a gun at the station, prosecutors said.
Later on Monday, officers in the district pulled 27-year-old Cristian Puma over for driving without headlights, prosecutors said. The cops knew Puma was wanted in connection with the station incident and took him into custody, according to the state. But no gun was found in Puma’s car or on his person at the time of his arrest.
Prosecutors charged Puma with Class X armed habitual criminal. He was paroled in March after serving most of a 6-1/2 year sentence that he received in 2014 for the same charge, according to state records. He previously received a three-year sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm in 2012 and another three-year sentence for being a gang member in possession of a firearm in 2011.
Judge John Lyke ordered Puma held without bail for violation of his parole. Lyke set bail in the new case at $250,000.
The Albany Park district has been battling a sharp increase in shootings over recent weeks that police say is related to a cycle of gang retaliations.
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