5 facing pot charges in NW Side arrest where suburban cop drew gun

Five men are facing marijuana possession charges after being taken into custody Monday by a suburban police officer who held their SUV at gunpoint during a traffic stop on the Northwest Side.

The traffic stop was prompted by an investigation into an armed robbery that had been reported about 4:15 p.m. Monday in the 900 block of Ash Street in north suburban Winnetka, according to Winnetka Police Chief Marc Hornstein.

Edin Mujkovic, 21, and Rahman Ukoja, 18, who live on the Northwest Side; Jeremy Lugo, 19, of the Montclare neighborhood; Rafael Sahakyan, 18, of Buffalo Grove; and Adam Lee, 20, of Morton Grove, were each charged with possessing between 100 and 500 grams of marijuana, Hornstein announced Thursday.

Shortly after the robbery was reported, a Wilmette police officer spotted their SUV, which matched the description of a vehicle wanted in the armed robbery, and followed it into Chicago, police said.

While the SUV was stopped at a traffic signal at Cicero and Peterson Avenue in the Sauganash neighborhood, the Wilmette officer got out of his cruiser and held the men in the SUV at gunpoint while waiting for backup, authorities said.

Chicago and Winnetka police officers responded to the officers call for assistance about 4:30 p.m., according to police. A photo of the stop was posted to Twitter.

Detectives executed a search warrant on the vehicle and found more than 350 grams of “a cannabis substance,” as well as property and cash taken in the robbery, Hornstein said.

The department’s investigation was ongoing as of Thursday, but no robbery charges were pending against the men, Hornstein said.

All five were expected to appear in court Thursday for a bail hearing.