Chicago police say they arrested four people with illegal guns at the Roosevelt Red Line station in about 24 hours this week. Three of those arrests occurred within 10 minutes of each other on Wednesday morning.
When police were called to the Red Line platform around 1 a.m. on Tuesday to handle a disturbance, they allegedly saw Erion Harrington exit the station’s elevator while holding his waistband.
A woman told Harrington to run. He tried, but he didn’t get very far. According to prosecutor Tilesha Jackson, police tackled him and recovered a loaded handgun.
Harrington, 22, is on parole for a robbery in the 1100 block of South Michigan Avenue, about a block from the Roosevelt station, in September 2019. He’s also on parole for a felony theft conviction that originated as a robbery charge on that same block in August 2021. In addition to that, he’s on bond for misdemeanor criminal trespass to a vehicle, Jackson said.
He has now been charged with felon in possession of a firearm, criminal trespass to government property, and trespassing. Judge Susana Ortiz ordered him to pay a $10,000 bail deposit to be released from jail on electronic monitoring (EM).
The other three men were all arrested shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday, according to a CPD spokesperson.
Officers watching CPD surveillance feeds noticed a group of people walking toward the Roosevelt station, two of whom appeared to be armed, according to Jackson. Patrol units attempted to apprehend two of the men, but they fled. They didn’t get very far, either.
Officials said police caught James Ramirez, 19, in the 1200 block of South State Street. As the cops approached, he pulled a gun from his waistband and dropped it to the ground, according to Jackson.
The other man, Joshua Estrada, was arrested on the first block of East Roosevelt, according to CPD. Jackson said he had a loaded handgun in his front right pocket.
While all of that was going on, the camera operators spotted another man adjusting an object in his waistband in the Roosevelt Red Line stairwell. When field officers went to investigate, they saw Sean McComb, 18, peeking around the elevator shaft, she said.
He ducked when he saw police, and officers immediately heard a loud clunking noise, according to Jackson. Cops arrested McComb and, about a foot away, recovered a loaded handgun with an extended magazine and an automatic-fire switch attached, Jackson said.
McComb is accused of illegally possessing a machine gun. Estrada and Ramirez have been charged with unlawful use of a weapon.
Judge Ortiz said Ramirez, who has never been arrested before, must pay a $500 bail deposit to get released on EM. Estrada, who has a pending felony narcotics case, must post twice as much to go on EM.
Jackson said McComb is on juvenile probation for a 2020 robbery and was also convicted of robbery as a juvenile in 2017. Ortiz ruled that he must post a $2,500 deposit to go on EM.