Hanover Park driver charged with drug possession
A Hanover Park man stopped for speeding faces drug charges after police found 57 small plastic bags of white powder concealed inside a fake soft drink can in the car, prosecutors said.
Israel Vargas, 54, of the 2500 block of Glendale Terrace, was ordered held on $75,000 bail Monday on charges of drug possession and intent to deliver.
He was stopped after a Bartlett police officer observed him driving 58 mph in a 40 mph zone about 2:30 a.m. Sunday, said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney David Shin.
After the officer stopped the car near Route 20 and Park Boulevard, an off-duty Streamwood officer pulled up and informed the Bartlett officer he had been following Vargas because he had been driving recklessly, Shin said.
Vargas, who did not have a valid driver's license, failed field sobriety tests, Shin said.
A search of the car revealed 43 grams of a substance believed to be illegal drugs, Shin said. If convicted of the drug charge, Vargas, who has no criminal background other than misdemeanor traffic offenses, faces up to 30 years in prison.
He next appears in court Sept. 21.