A 24-year-old Richton Park man is facing serious gun charges after Cook County sheriff’s police say a traffic stop on Lincoln Highway in Chicago Heights turned up a loaded handgun converted to fire automatically. Investigators with the Organized Crime Division say they pulled over a Dodge Charger last Tuesday evening after watching the driver speed and make several lane changes. The driver, identified by the sheriff’s office as Tyreek Roach, was arrested and charged with being a felon in possession of a machine gun, and was cited for multiple traffic violations. Deputies also reported finding a child in the backseat, who was later picked up at the scene by a family friend.
According to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, investigators recovered a loaded handgun outfitted with an extended magazine and a conversion “switch” that makes the weapon fully automatic. The sheriff’s post states Roach was cited for speeding, violating the state child restraint law, and driving without insurance before being taken into custody. Officials added that he was ordered held in Cook County Jail after an initial appearance at the Markham Courthouse.
What the charges mean
Under Illinois law, possession of a machine gun, a fully automatic firearm, or a device that converts a gun into a machine gun is treated as an aggravated weapons offense, with higher felony levels and potential prison time in certain circumstances. The statute and its classifications are set out by the Illinois General Assembly. Local prosecutors have been signaling a tougher line on these cases. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Cook County’s state’s attorney has instructed prosecutors to seek pretrial detention in most machine gun cases involving conversion “switch” devices.
South suburban enforcement pattern
In the south suburbs, police and prosecutors say they are running into these conversion switches and extended magazines with increasing frequency during traffic stops and targeted operations, a trend they highlight when asking judges to keep defendants locked up while cases move forward. FOX 32 reported on a March traffic stop in Chicago Heights that ended with a felony weapons charge, and CBS Chicago detailed a May search in Country Club Hills that turned up multiple loaded guns, two of which were fitted with switches that made them fully automatic. Those kinds of seizures have become Exhibit A for county officials who argue that conversion devices and high capacity magazines pose an outsized public safety risk.
Case status
Roach was ordered held in Cook County Jail following his initial appearance at the Markham Courthouse, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and remains in custody while prosecutors review the case. The sheriff’s office said a family friend took custody of the child at the scene. Officials have not released additional information about where the firearm came from or how it was obtained. Prosecutors could seek added counts or sentencing enhancements depending on what investigators uncover as their work continues…