Three men are being held in the DuPage County jail on charges they had multiple loaded machine guns and drugs inside their car while it was parked at the Bowlero entertainment venue in Naperville, officials said.
It was the second incident of someone being charged in connection with gun and drugs in a car parked at Bowlero, 1515 Aurora Drive, since Nov. 25.
Police were conducting surveillance in the business’ parking lot about 11 p.m. Saturday when they checked a Honda Accord with temporary registration and found it came back for a 2008 Nissan, a DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office/Naperville Police Department news release said.
When three men returned to the vehicle, officers used a squad car to pin in the front of the vehicle, prompting the driver to reverse and strike an unoccupied car behind him, the report said. A second squad pinned in the back of the car, and the three occupants were taken into custody after they tried to flee on foot.
Inside the car, officers could see a Glock 22 .40-caliber handgun with an extended magazine and one bullet in the chamber near the center console, the report said. The gun also was equipped with a switch that converts the weapon into a fully automatic machine gun.
A search of the Honda turned up additional weapons, including a loaded Glock 19 handgun with one bullet in the chamber, which was reported stolen out of Indiana; a loaded Glock 27 .40-caliber handgun with a 50-round drum attachment and a switch converting it to a fully automatic machine gun; a loaded American tactical omni hybrid rifle with one bullet in the chamber; three loaded magazines; and two boxes of ammunition, the report said.
Also recovered were 54 grams of cannabis, 21.4 grams of cocaine, 5.2 grams of heroin and three full pills and four half pills of MDMA, also known as ecstasy. It was later determined the Honda was reported stolen out of Chicago, the report said.
Demarveus Butler, 19, of the 200 block of Fulton Street, Michigan City, Indiana, was charged with possession of a loaded machine gun and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
Terrance Reed, 27, of the 3500 block of West Adams Street, Chicago, was charged with armed habitual criminal, armed violence, possession of a stolen motor vehicle and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.
Rubin Tart, 24, of the 3700 block of 16th Place, Country Club Hills, was charged with one count each of possession of a loaded machine gun, armed violence and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and three counts of possession of a controlled substance.
All three also were charged with misdemeanor resisting a police officer, officials said.
DuPage County Judge Joshua Dieden denied pre-trial release for suspects.
“Public safety is the top priority of my office and the allegations that these three men unlawfully possessed extremely dangerous, fully loaded weapons, two of which that are capable of firing as a machine gun, at a family-friendly entertainment facility are alarming,” State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement.
“The quick apprehension of the defendants in this case sends the message that in DuPage County we will not hesitate to remove firearms from those who cannot legally possess them. Thanks to the vigilance of the Naperville Police Department, an arsenal of dangerous weapons has been removed from the streets and quite possibly a tragedy has been averted.”
Butler and Reed are next scheduled to be in court Jan. 2. Tart’s next court appearance is set for Jan. 12.
In the Nov. 25 incident at Bowlero, an Aurora woman who was reportedly seen smoking cannabis in a car that also contained a gun observed by Naperville police, took officers on a high-speed chase, reports said. She is accused of attempting to drive into a police officer’s car, going through seven red lights, and then entering Interstate 88 and hitting speeds of more than 120 mph before being stopped, reports said.
Imira Williams, 22, of the 600 block of North Randall Road, was charged with felony aggravated fleeing and eluding and misdemeanor attempted aggravated assault.
There were also four incidents in September and October in which guns were spotted and arrests made of people whose vehicles were parked at the TopGolf entertainment venue at 3221 Odyssey Court in Naperville, according to police.