A Wisconsin man faces felony charges after a cop assigned to Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s security detail saw the outline of a gun in his cross-body bag while they waited in line at a fast food restaurant near Millennium Park on Tuesday evening, according to prosecutors and a source.
It happened around 9 p.m. at Shake Shack, 14 South Michigan, adjacent to the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel.
Lightfoot spent the evening celebrating the 100th anniversary of former Mayor Harold Washington’s birth with many of the city, county, and state’s most powerful officials.
Then, she apparently wanted some Shake Shack.
Officially, prosecutor Loukas Kalliantasis said only that an on-duty Chicago police officer was in line at the restaurant when he noticed the outline of a handgun and an extended ammunition magazine in a satchel worn by 19-year-old Treveon Broadway. Kalliantasis did not mention Lightfoot or reveal that the cop works on her security detail.
The officer, who was in line directly behind Broadway, then saw Broadway walk outside to an idling vehicle and return to the restaurant, Kalliantasis said.
Lightfoot’s security officer called for back-up from the local police district and cops began investigating the car and the front seat passenger, who allegedly had a baggie of pot lying at his feet.
Broadway then emerged from the restaurant and asked police if there was a problem. There was, apparently.
Police searched the car and found the black satchel lying on the back seat as if someone had tossed it inside, Kalliantasis said. On the floorboard beneath the bag, cops found two loaded handguns, each loaded with armor-piercing bullets in extended magazines and equipped laser sights, according to Kalliantasis. And one gun was allegedly equipped with a switch, enabling it to generate automatic gunfire.
Kalliantasis said Shake Shake’s manager confirmed the bag police found in the car is the one Broadway brought into the restaurant earlier.
Assistant Public Defender Suzin Farber called the allegations “a complicated scenario” and argued that Broadway did not display the guns or point them at anyone. She said he lives with his parents in Milwaukee, attends high school there, and has no criminal record.
But Judge Kelly McCarthy focused on the alleged weapons as she pondered Broadway’s bail conditions.
“I don’t find these are for personal protection at all,” McCarthy said of the allegations that he had armor-piercing bullets and laser sights.
She set bail at $15,000, meaning he must post a $1,500 deposit to get out of jail. McCarthy gave Broadway permission to return to Wisconsin over the state’s objections.
Prosecutors charged him with two counts of felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, two counts of possessing high-capacity magazines, and other misdemeanors.
A woman who works in the building said she did not see Lightfoot in the restaurant, but did see the mayor’s SUV. Another person familiar with the situation said Lightfoot was “close by” but not inside the restaurant.
Lightfoot’s office did not answer inquiries about where Lightfoot was during the incident, if the officer was ordering food for the mayor, and if the mayor had a statement about her security officer’s diligence.
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