A 20-year-old Robbins man is facing a felony weapons charge after sheriff’s investigators say a routine traffic stop on the village’s south side turned up a loaded, unserialized “ghost gun” with a laser sight and a bright blue pistol grip.
Deputies from the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Organized Crime Division say they pulled over a silver Chevrolet Equinox in the 4100 block of 135th Street around 6:55 p.m. on June 23. According to a post from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, investigators took the driver, identified as 20-year-old Chavarous Graves, into custody and found a loaded, serial-less handgun inside the vehicle.
Detectives also seized Graves’s cellphone, which the office said had a lock-screen image of a handgun with the same distinctive blue grip as the recovered weapon. The Sheriff’s Office said Graves did not have a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) card or a concealed-carry license. The Cook County State’s Attorney approved an aggravated unlawful-possession charge, and Graves was ordered released after an initial appearance at the Markham courthouse, according to the agency.
Traffic stops keep turning up untraceable guns
Traffic stops by sheriff’s police and suburban departments across Cook County have repeatedly produced so-called ghost guns in recent years, a trend that law enforcement officials say makes it tougher to trace weapons and build cases. Local reporting has highlighted several similar incidents, including a South Loop stop where deputies reported finding an unserialized, laser-equipped pistol during a vehicle search. Outlets such as FOX 32 Chicago have covered comparable recoveries…