Sunshine brings crowds, guns to Chicago’s lakefront

Sun’s out, guns out, the saying goes, and Monday’s beautiful weather apparently brought plenty of guns to Chicago’s lakefront. Chicago police officers arrested at least three people for allegedly possessing firearms at the lakefront between noon and 10 p.m., according to CPD and court records.

Deseanta Washington, 34, was arrested around 9:30 p.m. at 31st Street Beach, is charged with unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon.

Officers conducting bag checks during a “teen trend” event at the beach observed Washington approaching with a “weighted L-shaped object imprinted in his front right hoodie pocket,” which they concluded was a firearm, per his arrest report.

Washington allegedly ran when the police told him to stop. When they caught him after a short foot pursuit, the bulge in his pocket was gone.

Backtracking his path, the police recovered a firearm in a grassy area, the report said. Washington allegedly admitted to carrying the gun for protection, claiming he had it for only 20 to 30 minutes before his arrest and that it fell out of his pocket while running. He further stated the gun had been “passed around amongst unknown people,” according to the report.

Judge Antara Rivera granted the state’s detention petition, ordering Washington to remain in jail pending further court proceedings.

Rivera denied detention petitions that prosecutors filed in the other two cases. Instead, she put the men on ankle monitors.

Lacardo Delgado-Gonzalez, 33, was arrested around 1:45 p.m. in the 1700 block of North La Salle Drive, according to CPD records.

Cops were doing a routine bag check at North Avenue Beach when he approached on a bike. His arrest report said he became nervous and evasive when the police asked to inspect his shoulder bag. He was so nervous, police said, he told them he had to leave so he could find his misplaced stereo speaker, which they could see was attached to his bike.

Delgado-Gonzalez then fled the scene, and an officer saw him toss a small handgun into a bush near La Salle Drive and North Avenue as he tried to escape, the report said.

After his arrest, he allegedly told officers he carried the gun for protection but insisted he “doesn’t bother anyone.”

Lawrence Pope, 23, was arrested around 4 p.m. at Oakwood Beach.

Officers patrolling the beach saw Pope hunched forward in the driver’s seat of a car blocking an emergency driveway, smoking a cigarillo that smelled like burnt cannabis, his arrest report states. Officers noted a zip bag of suspected marijuana on the center console and an open bottle of Patron tequila on the back seat.

A subsequent narcotics search of his vehicle revealed a loaded handgun under the driver’s seat. Additionally, police allegedly found a zip bag containing 12 pills of suspected ecstasy in Pope’s pants pocket, per the report.

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