Six arrested in Hoffman Estates drug bust

Police charged six people at a Hoffman Estates sports bar with possession of a controlled substance shortly before midnight Thursday.

At the time, officers were executing search warrants for the premises of Official's Time Out and for bartender Tiffany Hernandez, 32, said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Walsh during Friday's bond hearing for the six defendants.

Over the last two weeks, undercover officers involved in a narcotics investigation purchased a white chunky substance from Hernandez, of the 200 block of Willow Road in Streamwood, Walsh said.

Beginning Feb. 2, they purchased three grams of the substance, which tested positive for cocaine, on each of three separate occasions for a total of $300, Walsh said.

While executing the search warrant at the Higgins Road sports bar, officers found a plastic bag with a white chunky substance and several prescription pills in Hernandez's possession, Walsh said.

Hernandez, who has no criminal background, later admitted to police she “sold cocaine occasionally” and “that she had made some mistakes,” Walsh said.

An Official's Time Out employee declined to comment on the arrests.

Referring to the ongoing investigation, Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod said it is “premature to speculate” on any action the village may or may not take.

Revoking the bar's liquor license could be a possibility, “but that's premature at this point,” McLeod said.

Cook County Judge Jill Cerone Marisie set bail at $20,000 for Hernandez, who's charged with possession of a controlled substance, a Class 4 felony punishable by one to three years in prison, and delivery of a controlled substance, a Class 1 felony punishable by four to 15 years in prison. Both charges are also probationable.

Also arrested was Rolando Aguirre, 33, of the 1000 block of Lawndale in Hoffman Estates. The judge set bail at $25,000 for Aguirre, who is wanted on a DuPage County warrant on charges of misdemeanor theft, prosecutors said. Police found Aguirre in possession of substances that later tested positive for cocaine and cannabis.

He was charged with possession of a controlled substance, a Class 4 felony, and with misdemeanor possession of cannabis. His background includes convictions for possession of a controlled substance; misdemeanor theft, retail theft and misdemeanor battery.

Also arrested on charges of possession of a controlled substance were: Christopher Beach, 47, of the 200 block of Shady Lane in Palatine; Melanie Goranson, 25, of the 2000 block of Barrington Road in Hoffman Estates; Michael Kenney, 47, of the 600 block of Hunters Way in Fox River Grove; and Cherie Torres, 51, of the 1900 block of 74th Court in Elmwood Park.

None of the them have a criminal background, Walsh said.

Cerone Marisie set bail at $2,000 for Beach and Kenney, who must each post $200 to be released from custody. She set bail at $1,000 for Goranson, who must post $100 to be released from custody, and she set a $10,000 I bond, also known as a personal recognizance bond, for Torres.

They next appear in court on March 15.