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Two facing weapons charges in Aurora

Aurora police noticing an illegally parked car led to the discovery of an illegally possessed handgun that recently had been fired, officials said.

Now, a 17-year-old boy is in a youth home, while a 19-year-old man is in the Kane County jail, both being held on weapons charges.

Police said two community police officers were on patrol at 11:10 p.m. March 16 on the 800 block of Kane Street, when they spotted the vehicle.

Four people were in the car: the 17-year-old, the 19-year-old and a man and woman, each 18. As the officers talked with the four, the 17-year-old began making suspicious movements, police said. When one of the officers shined his flashlight toward the back seat of the car where the boy was sitting, he saw the butt of a handgun protruding from under the boy's shoe. The four were ordered out of the vehicle and searched.

Not only was the .22-caliber handgun found on the 17-year-old, police said, but spent shell casings were also found on the boy, indicating the gun had recently been fired.

During the investigation, police learned the 17-year-old had fired the gun earlier in the evening inside the car.

The 17-year-old was charged with reckless discharge of a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. The 19-year-old, Hector D. Mendoza of the 2000 block of Fox Pointe Drive, Aurora, was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon; police say Mendoza knew the gun was in the vehicle and allowed it to remain there. The other two occupants of the vehicle were released without charges.

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