Prosecutors say a man wearing a ski mask on the Roosevelt Red Line platform Saturday evening had a stolen firearm in his bag and some other very interesting items.
Chicago police saw Ralph Sims, 29, on the CTA platform around 6:29 p.m. and became suspicious because he was wearing a ski mask in August, prosecutor Sahin Jutla said. The officers also allegedly saw Sims’ cross-body bag being weighed down by a heavy L-shaped object.
Sims gave the cops his bag when they approached him, then he “pushed away” from the officers and started to run, Jutla said. The police caught him quickly.
Inside the bag, officers found a loaded, stolen handgun with a laser sight attached and a collection of credit cards that belonged to “recent carjacking and robbery victims,” according to Jutla. Investigators are looking into those stolen cards, and additional charges may be forthcoming.
Prosecutors charged Sims with unlawful use of a weapon, possession of a stolen firearm, and misdemeanor counts of battery and resisting arrest.
Judge Charles Beach ordered Sims to pay a $12,000 deposit toward bail to get out of jail on electronic monitoring. Separately, Beach ordered Sims held without bail on a warrant and probation violation in a manufacture-delivery case.
A public defender said Sims has no firearms convictions in his past and lives with his wife and two children. He was scheduled to begin a new job at UPS this week, the attorney said.
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