Naperville police charge two men in separate firearms incidents involving machine gun and fired weapon – Chicago Tribune

Two men are being held in the DuPage County Jail on other weapons charges. Their arrests were made by Naperville police. One of the men was charged with possession of a machine gun and the other with possession of a fired weapon.

In the first case, an officer stopped a car after it came out of a Wendy’s parking lot in close proximity to the officer’s vehicle around 8:10 a.m. Thursday, according to a news release from the DuPage County Police Department and District Attorney’s Office.

While the officer was speaking to the driver about his vehicle’s expired license plate, he “heard what sounded like the sliding of a pistol rack coming from inside the vehicle,” and called for backup, the report said.

The officer then spoke to Tony Thompson, 19, of the 400 block of Hillside Road in Joliet, who was sitting in the passenger seat, and told him to get out if more officers arrived. While searching the vehicle, officers found a Glock 17 9mm firearm under Thompson’s seat with a switch that could make it fully automatic, the report said.

Thompson was charged with possession of a machine gun (a Class X felony), possession of a firearm (no FOID document), a Class 3 felony, and two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon (a Class 4 felony).

The second incident occurred at about 8:05 p.m. Thursday when officers driving behind 24-year-old Trensae Ware of Naperville in the 1500 block of West Jefferson Avenue first noticed that he was not wearing a seatbelt, then heard what sounded like a gunshot and then saw “the vehicle swerve slightly and shake,” according to the report.

After officers stopped the car, they found a cannabis shake on the gearshift and an opened bottle of tequila in the bag behind the passenger seat, officers said.

When the four occupants got out, an empty cartridge case was found in the driver’s seat, a loaded .45-caliber firearm was found under the passenger seat and near where the driver’s left foot would have been while sitting, the report said.

Authorities said the bullets contained in the gun matched spent cartridge cases recovered from the driver’s seat, as well as a fired bullet that was found in the car in its place.

All four occupants were checked for gunshot residue, but it was only found on Ware’s hands, the report said. A 9mm pistol was found in the rear passenger compartment of the vehicle, but it did not match the fired cartridge case.

Ware was charged with one count each of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon (a Class 3 felony) and reckless discharge of a firearm (a Class 4 felony).

District Attorney Robert Berlin praised the Naperville Police Department in a statement about the two arrests.

“Their commitment to public safety is unmatched,” he said. “Once again, their efforts have resulted in dangerous weapons being taken away from those who are not legally allowed to possess them.”

An indictment for both suspects is scheduled for July 1.