Cops: Aurora man caught with cocaine at courthouse

An Aurora man nearly slipped by security at the Kane County courthouse last week, but on his second trip through the metal detectors a guard spotted a small bag of cocaine in his bin, authorities said.

Alex M. Robinson, who was heading into court for a probation hearing, apparently didn’t mean to put the bag on the security bin, said Kane County sheriff’s Lt. Patrick Gengler.

The courthouse was busy at 8:30 Wednesday morning, and when Robinson walked through the checkpoint the first time, he had the cocaine in his pocket, but something on him set off the metal detector, authorities said. The officer told Robinson to make sure he had emptied everything from his pockets, and Robinson dropped a small bag of cocaine into the bin along with the rest of his belongings, according to police.

“There’s a security checkpoint; it’s not a surprise that you are going to be check when you go through,” Gengler said. “The officer was pretty attentive to see what it was. A small bag of cocaine is pretty small.”

Police said Robinson realized his mistake and tried to flee, but guards grabbed him and were able to hold him.

“It was kind of like, oops,” Gengler said. “He didn’t mean to put it in the basket.”

Robinson was charged with possession of a controlled substance.