Cops: Man had machine guns, hand grenades in Elgin storage unit

SHARE Cops: Man had machine guns, hand grenades in Elgin storage unit
elginweapons816.jpeg

Weapons found in an Elgin storage unit Aug. 12., 2016. | Elgin police

Authorities found hand grenades and machine guns inside a northwest suburban man’s storage unit in Elgin Friday night, police said.

About 9 p.m., Elgin police and federal immigration officers executed a search warrant inside the unit in the 600 block of Big Timber Road, according to a statement from Elgin police.

A bomb squad from the Kane County sheriff’s office was called after investigators found a cache of automatic weapons and hand grenades, police said. The grenades were secured and no one was hurt.

Juan Mexicano | Elgin police

Juan Mexicano | Elgin police

The renter of the unit was identified as 31-year-old Addison resident Juan Mexicano, police said. He was charged with five felony counts of possession of machine guns and was ordered held on a $1 million bond at a Monday hearing.

Federal investigators were tipped off to the unit as part of an ongoing investigation, police said.

“The amount of work invested by all involved culminated in extremely dangerous weapons being seized and prevented their possible use in our communities,” Elgin Lt. Adam Schuessler said in the statement.

The Latest
Antoine Perteet, 33, targeted victims on the dating app Grindr, according to Chicago police.
Glass-facade buildings can disorient birds in flight. The city is expected to update and revise rules for new developments and rehabbed buildings next month. But bird groups say the proposed guidelines need to be mandatory.
The man was shot in the left eye area in the 5700 block of South Christiana Avenue on the city’s Southwest Side.
Most women who seek abortions are women of color, especially Black women. Restricting access to mifepristone, as a case now before the Supreme Court seeks to do, would worsen racial health disparities.
The Bears have spent months studying the draft. They’ll spend the next one plotting what could happen.