3 out-of-staters face weapons charges in Elk Grove Village

Three out-of-towners received bail bonds ranging from $75,000 to $100,000 Thursday after Elk Grove Village police charged each with unlawful use of weapon by a felon.

Damon Jenkins, 31, and Marcus Bankston, 30, both of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Derek Underwood, 37, of Smyrna, Ga., were arrested Wednesday following a drug surveillance in the parking lot of the Country Inn & Suites in the 1100 block of Devon Ave., said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Adam Klugman.

Believing a drug transaction was about to take place, police approached the 2006 Chevy Impala that Underwood was driving, Klugman said. The police dog led officers to the dashboard where they reported finding a hidden compartment containing three loaded handguns, Klugman said. Along with the guns, police recovered an undisclosed amount of U.S. currency, he said.

Each defendant has prior convictions, most of them from Ohio, Klugman said.

Cook County Judge Edward Pietrucha set bail at $100,000 for Underwood, who was sentenced to one year in an Ohio prison for a 2007 conviction of possession of a weapon by a felon, Klugman said. He received two years in prison for a 2000 conviction on delivery of a controlled substance. He received six months in jail on a 1997 weapons charge and was sentenced to boot camp for a violation of probation resulting from a 1992 drug charge.

Pietrucha set bail at $80,000 for Bankston, who received a one-year prison sentence in Ohio following a conviction for possession of a controlled substance in 2006, Klugman said. Bankston also received an 18-month sentence for a 2001 aggravated assault, and probation for a 1997 conviction on possession of a controlled substance, Klugman said.

Bail was set at $75,000 for Jenkins, who was sentenced to one year in an Ohio prison after violating his 2005 probation on a weapon charge.

If the defendants make bail, Pietrucha ordered each to remain in the area. The men next appear in court on May 14.