Cops: Waukegan gang member caught with stolen gun

A 24-year-old former member of Lake County’s “10 Most Wanted” list was charged with possession of a stolen forearm after Waukegan police spotted him attempting to hide in a parked vehicle over the weekend, according to authorities.

Waukegan officers working a “gang suppression assignment” discovered Cordale Q. Handy, of the 2700 block of Lydia Street, ducked behind the driver’s seat of a vehicle on Saturday, police said.

When the officers approached the vehicle parked in a driveway, police said Handy immediately exited the vehicle and reached for his waistband while appearing to prepare to flee.

Officers called out to the man, who they recognized to be Cordale Handy, a known gang member, according to police. Handy stopped to speak with the officers and told them he was in possession of a handgun and a bag of ammunition, police said.

Officers handcuffed Handy and discovered a silver .38-caliber revolver in his waistband and a bag with 30 rounds of .38-caliber bullets, according to police.

Police said they checked the serial number of the weapon with the Lake County sheriff’s department and realized it was stolen.

Handy was previously on the Lake County sheriff’s “10 Most Wanted” list in 2008 and turned himself in on a carjacking charge, according to Daily Herald records.

In April of 2011, Handy was charged with residential burglary in connection to six burglaries in Waukegan, according to records.

He now faces charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, possession of a stolen firearm and illegal possession of alcohol in a motor vehicle, according to police.