A man and a teenager are facing felony weapons charges after police found illegal guns and ammunition in a home in south suburban Steger.
Eric Oestmann | Cook County sheriff’s office
About 3 p.m. Monday, members of the Cook County Sheriff’s Gun Suppression Team were getting ready to execute a search warrant in the 3300 block of Hopkins when a car pulled up to the home, police said.
Officers recognized the two people inside, a 16-year-old boy and an 18-year-old man, as the subjects of the warrant, sheriff’s police said. The man, Eric Oestmann, had a Glock .40 caliber handgun with him, sheriff’s police claim.
Officers found three more guns inside the home, including a Taurus .357 handgun, a Mossberg .22 caliber rifle and a Kel Tec 9mm handgun, police said. All of the guns were loaded and the serial numbers had been defaced.
Authorities found the weapons spread out around the home, police said—behind a bed, behind a dresser and locked in a safe alongside some cannabis.
None of the residents, including Oestmann and the teen, had valid FOID cards, police said.
Authorities also found 64 rounds of ammunition, eight pills of Tramadol, one bottle of Promethazine with codeine, 18.7 grams of cannabis and drug paraphernalia in the home, police said.
Oestmann was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a defaced firearm, the sheriff’s office said. He was ordered held on a $20,000 bond during a hearing Tuesday at the Markham courthouse, and will next appear in court March 18.
The 16-year-old was charged as a juvenile with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, the sheriff’s office said. He remains in custody at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center.
