Weapons charge dropped for improper arrest

Cook County assistant state's attorneys decided not to prosecute a 30-year-old Arlington Heights man for carrying an unloaded gun after Judge John Scotillo ruled Wednesday that police had no probable cause to arrest him.

Police arrested Ryan Baldwin, of the 1500 block of Fernandez in Arlington Heights, last January in the 900 block of I-Oka in Mount Prospect following a call about a suspicious person in the neighborhood.

Police asked Baldwin, who was on parole at the time of the incident, to produce identification. When he went to retrieve it, they noticed a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun in the waistband of his pants. He was charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, a Class 3 felony that carries a sentence of two to 10 years.

At the time of the incident, Baldwin was on parole after serving 10 years in prison for murder. As a convicted felon, Baldwin is not allowed to possess a weapon. A spokesman from the Cook County State's Attorney's Office said that prosecutors notified the Illinois Department of Corrections of Baldwin's arrest in January. An IDOC spokesman said Baldwin remains in IDOC custody pending a hearing on his parole violation before the prisoner review board.