Police: Gun found during traffic stop in Riverside

A man who was smoking marijuana during a traffic stop earlier this month in west suburban Riverside has been charged after officers also found a gun in the vehicle, police said.

Carrington JP Vance, 26, faces charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, possession of cannabis, possession of open alcohol and driving without a properly secured seatbelt, according to a statement from Riverside police.

A police officer on patrol about 4:15 p.m. April 14 stopped a vehicle because the driver was not wearing a seatbelt in the 3600 block of Harlem Avenue, police said. The driver, identified as Vance, was smoking marijuana and continued smoking the “blunt” while the officer was trying to talk with him.

A search of the vehicle also recovered an Omega brand Model 220, .22 caliber revolver with black electrical tape around the grips, six live .22 caliber rounds and an open bottle of Crown Royal, police said. Vance told the officer that he did not have a valid FOID card or a concealed carry permit.

During an interview at the police station, Vance also told the officer that he had taken the gun from a job site when he was working at a demolition company in 2013 in Chicago, police said. The gun has not been reported stolen in the state police computer system and police are trying to track down the original owner.

Vance, who lives in the Ashburn neighborhood on Chicago’s Southwest Side, had a prior weapons arrest in Chicago in May 2016, for which he was also driving with a handgun in his possession, police said.

On April 15, Judge Peggy Chiampas set Vance’s bond at $10,000, court records show. He was later released on bond and is due back in court on Monday.