New Year's celebration leads to weapons, drug charges against Elgin man

Firing off a celebratory mortar to ring in 2017 could land a 29-year-old Elgin man in prison.

Jose A. Cantu, of the 200 block of Michigan Street, was charged Sunday with the felonies of armed habitual criminal, reckless discharge of a firearm, possession of 30 to 500 grams of marijuana, along with possession of a gun without a Firearm Owners Identification card, according to Kane County court records and an Elgin police report.

The most severe charge of armed habitual criminal carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison with no chance of probation. Cantu is accused of possessing an AK-47 assault rifle while having two previous felony convictions - a 2010 robbery and a 2014 aggravated battery to a police officer, according to the police report.

Authorities were called at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday to Michigan Street after a "loud explosion" was heard. Along the way, officers heard what they believed to be gunshots and found six spent .762 mm shell casings outside Cantu's residence, the report said.

Officers also saw a metal pipe protruding from the ground, possibly for launching fireworks or mortars. Cantu's father gave police written permission to search the home and officers found a loaded AK-47 stashed in ceiling tiles in a bathroom, along with 487 grams of marijuana - about 17 ounces - in Jose Cantu's bedroom, according to the report.

Jose Cantu admitted to police to buying a $20 mortar from Indiana to launch as part of his New Year's celebration and said he spent $2,500 in Colorado for the marijuana, according to the report.

The reckless discharge of a firearm charge accuses Cantu of firing a weapon and "endangering the community at large," court records show. No one was injured.

Cantu, due in court Jan. 26, was being held at the Kane County jail on $250,000 bail.