Police: Man fired a machine gun more than 30 times in Villa Park neighborhood

A DuPage County judge on Friday denied bail for a Maywood man facing multiple weapons charges after prosecutors said he fired an automatic handgun more than 30 times into a Villa Park neighborhood, striking a nearby home.

Curtis Lyons, 37, is charged with felony counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm and unlawful use of a machine gun. He also is charged with being an armed habitual criminal.

Judge Ann Celine O'Hallaren Walsh granted the prosecutors' motion to deny bail.

Villa Park police were called to a report of a shooting at about 8:47 Wednesday in the area of Chatham Avenue and Plymouth Street. Arriving officers found numerous shell casings in the intersection. Investigators later identified Lyons as a suspect, according to the DuPage state's attorney's office.

Authorities said Lyons had arranged to sell drugs to an acquaintance, and that as Lyons approached the other individual, he fired a gun that had been modified with a switch to make it a fully automatic weapon.

Prosecutors said Lyons fired more than thirty rounds, one of which hit a nearby home, before fleeing the area. No bystanders or anyone in the home were injured, DuPage State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement.

Villa Park police located Lyons in a home on Cornell Avenue where, after executing a search warrant, officers found a 9 mm Glock 19 with a fully automatic switch and a laser light, a Smith and Wesson M&P Shield 9 mm, a 50-round drum magazine containing eight rounds and roughly $7,000 in cash, according to prosecutors.

Lyons is next due in court for his arraignment on Feb. 23.