Employee charged after incident at cannabis pharmacy in Des Plaines

Des Plaines police officers respond to a parking lot on Elmhurst Road on Thursday, May 30, 2024. After speaking with police for several hours, an employee at a local pharmacy left the building and was later charged. (Photo: Tom Wessell/Journal)

A Des Plaines man was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault and disorderly conduct in connection with an incident that occurred Thursday, May 30, at UP, LLC, a cannabis dispensary located at 1173 S. Elmhurst Rd.

Following an investigation by the Des Plaines Police Department, charges were filed against Daniel J. Nardo, 33, 940 Beau Dr., Des Plaines.

Daniel Nardo

Des Plaines police were called to the store at approximately 1:41 p.m. The victim/caller, a 22-year-old Mount Prospect woman, told police that the store’s owner and sole employee was allegedly on site, swallowed helium, and held up a shotgun and “loaded it.”

Multiple officers arrived at the scene where a perimeter was established to contain the incident. A Des Plaines officer was able to meet with the victim/caller at another location to obtain additional information regarding the incident.

She said she and her boyfriend, a 20-year-old man from Mount Prospect, took an Uber to the dispensary to buy cannabis. They had both been to the store before and knew the owner, Daniel Nardo, from their contacts there.

When they arrived at the pharmacy and looked at the cannabis selection, they observed Nardo ingesting what they thought was helium or laughing gas. After making their selection and approaching the cash register, the 20-year-old man was on his phone and began to laugh at the conversation he was having. He continued his conversation and left the store.

While the 22-year-old woman was still at the register, Nardo allegedly became angry and said “What’s so funny?” and “I’m like that,” meaning he was a gangster. He then went to the back of the store and came back with what the woman thought was a shotgun. Nardo placed the gun on the shelf and pointed it at the entrance of the store, where the male victim had just come out of, reports said.

Nardo eventually put the gun down, reports said, at which point the man re-entered the store and Nardo again became angry. He retrieved the gun and cocked it several more times, police said. The woman and man left money for their merchandise, quickly left the store and called police. After several hours of talking with Nardo and trying to get him to leave the store, Nardo eventually left the store and was taken into custody without incident at around 5:13 p.m.

Des Plaines investigators obtained and executed a search warrant for the store. Several replica airsoft guns were found inside the store, including a replica long gun style that could be “loaded.” Investigators also found several empty nitrous oxide cans in a trash can.

Nardo was booked into the downtown police station and released. His court date is July 10 at 1:30 p.m. at the Skokie Courthouse.

Police officers were seen with guns drawn as they manned a security perimeter around the building on Elmhurst Road. (Photo: Tom Wessell/Journal)

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