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Palatine man charged with firing gun in Wheeling

A 19-year-old Palatine man has been charged with firing a gun at a car in which two women were sitting in Wheeling Thursday evening, then resisting arrest and being found in possession of a gun and cocaine in Palatine.

Adrian Soto of the 1900 block of North Green Lane was charged by Palatine police with resisting arrest, possession of a controlled substance and armed violence, for possessing a firearm while committing the felony of possessing cocaine.

Wheeling police subsequently filed their own charges of aggravated possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a street gang member and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

Wheeling Deputy Police Chief Todd Wolff said two women were sitting in a car on the 800 block of Colonial Drive in Wheeling about 6 p.m. Thursday when a man driving past aimed a large, black firearm at the vehicle and fired two or three times.

Two rounds were found to have struck the driver's side of the vehicle, but no one was injured, Wolff said.

Witnesses identified the man as Soto, a known street gang member from Palatine, he said. It wasn't clear whether Soto knew the women in the vehicle.

About 7:30 p.m. Thursday, two Palatine patrol officers spotted Soto walking north on Baldwin Road near Dundee Road. When they exited their vehicle and approached Soto, he ran.

After arresting Soto, the officers found a loaded Taurus .357 Magnum revolver in his waistband and approximately 1.2 grams of cocaine in his pocket, police said..

Soto appeared in bond court in Rolling Meadows Friday morning on both Palatine' sand Wheeling's charges. His bail was set at $200,000, and his next court date for all the charges is Oct. 24.

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