Cops who stopped to interview a woman who was illegally parked near the Mag Mile ended up finding much more than they bargained for, according to prosecutors: three loaded guns, gloves, masks, “burglary tools,” extra license plates, and $70,000 cash.
It happened outside Saks Fifth Avenue at Superior Street and Michigan Avenue around 1:30 p.m. March 27, according to a Chicago police report.
Police spotted a Jeep with Indiana license plates that they suspected of being involved in retail thefts around the area, prosecutors said. It was allegedly stopped in a no-parking zone, so they started a conversation with the driver, 19-year-old Kyiarha Hill.
She was alone in the car, and cops saw an open container of alcohol in the vehicle and smelled burnt marijuana, too, so they asked her to stop out, Assistant State’s Attorney Loukas Kalliantasis said.
Police conducted a narcotics search of the car, but they didn’t find any narcotics. However, they did find a whopping $70,000 cash in the center console, Kalliantasis said.
There were two loaded handguns under the passenger seat, one of which had a defaced serial number, an extended ammunition magazine, and an automatic-fire switch, he continued. Cops allegedly found a third gun, also loaded with an extended magazine, under the driver’s seat.
In the trunk was an assortment of “burglary tools,” Kalliantasis said, including a “saw machine,” masks, and gloves. He said there were also Indiana dealer license plates inside the car that didn’t belong to the vehicle.
Hill, who has never been arrested before, said she didn’t know anything about the guns, according to Kalliantasis.
Prosecutors charged her with three counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and defacement of firearm markings. And she received two traffic citations.
Private defense attorney David Gaeger said Hill, who recently graduated high school, works for a security company and has a child. She does not own the car, he said.
Judge Maryam Ahmad ruled that Hill could go home on electronic monitoring by posting 10% of her $30,000 bail amount.
Hill is due back in court on April 13.
