No bail for man held on drug, weapons charges

An Aurora man once convicted of attempted murder of a police officer is being held without bail after he was charged with possessing a handgun and about 13 grams of cocaine.

Aurora police say they recognized Lemont W. Stewart on July 21 as a car he was riding in pulled out of the parking lot of a hotel on the 2400 block of Longmeadow Drive, according to a news release from the DuPage County state's attorney's office. They knew he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

When police pulled up next to the car, Stewart got out and ran away, reports said.

When they arrested him, police found five 9 mm bullets in one of his pants pockets. Police also found a loaded semi-automatic handgun in a backpack in the passenger seat area. Authorities also believe Stewart gave the cocaine to the driver to hide for him.

Stewart, 43, of the 400 block of West Downer Place, is charged with one count each of being an armed habitual criminal, armed violence, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, unlawful possession of a controlled substance and resisting a peace officer.

According to prosecutors, Stewart was convicted of attempted murder in 2003 for shooting an Aurora police officer. A Daily Herald article reported that the officer and another were undercover and that Stewart thought they were gang members looking to kill him. A bullet grazed the officer's head.