Dinner at one of Chicago’s most iconic steakhouses ended with a trip to Cook County jail for a man who mistakenly left a handbag at the restaurant — with a loaded gun inside, according to prosecutors. If this sounds vaguely familiar, it may be because this is the second time in two years that customers of Gibson’s Bar & Steakhouse have been arrested after the restaurant’s employees allegedly found their guns.
Prosecutors said Darwin Walls, 29, forgot to take his fanny pack when he left the restaurant after dinner Sunday night. An employee who found the bag looked inside to see if it contained any identification or other information to help them locate the owner. They allegedly found a gun instead.
Walls returned to the restaurant to claim his bag around 11 p.m. An employee was already summoning police to take possession of the gun, according to prosecutors and CPD dispatch records.
Cops arrived just in time to see Walls leaving in a car driven by a woman. Officers broadcast a description of their Audi on police radio, and cops pulled it over near Balbo and Lake Shore Drive in the Loop.
Police found Walls hiding in the car’s trunk, a CPD spokesperson said. He was allegedly carrying 38 ecstasy pills and $4,830 cash.
Prosecutors, who said the restaurant’s security camera footage shows Walls with the bag, charged him with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and possession of a controlled substance. They said Walls is on probation for a controlled substance charge and has previous felony convictions for aggravated battery and a gun offense.
Judge Arthur Willis set his bail at $45,000 on the new charges and $5,000 for violating probation. Willis ordered him to go onto electronic monitoring if he can post a 10% deposit.
In the previous gun-related incident at Gibson’s, prosecutors charged a 28-year-old man after the restaurant’s valet staff allegedly spotted a firearm in a patron’s car while parking the vehicle. Prosecutors in that case said the gun’s serial number was defaced and police found bags of suspected crack and suspected heroin in the driver’s door panel.
Darrell Patrick, 28, is charged with Class X armed habitual criminal, possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, and narcotics violations in that case, which is still pending, according to court records.