UPDATE – Hobart Chase Ends With Fully Automatic Weapon Found
On January 20, 2021 at approximately 11:15AM, A Hobart Officer observed a traffic violation and conducted a traffic stop in the area of 37th Avenue and Colorado Street, according to Captain James Gonzales of The Hobart Police. Officers approached the vehicle and made contact with the driver and the front seat passenger and as he was speaking with them, he could smell a strong odor of marijuana inside of the vehicle. The Officer identified the driver, Darron D. Ross, 22, from Park Forest, IL and as the Officer spoke to the passenger, the passenger provided the Officer with his name and a date of birth, but when the Officer asked how old he was, the age the passenger gave conflicted with the date of birth he provided to the Officer.
The Officer confronted the passenger about the conflict of his age and the date of birth he provided to him and he asked the passenger to exit the vehicle. The Officer began to detain the passenger for further investigation and he placed the subject into handcuffs. At the time the Officer was taking the passenger into handcuffs, he ordered the driver to turn off the vehicle. At the time he was ordering the driver to turn off the vehicle, he was positioned outside the passenger side of the vehicle and the passenger side door was open. He ordered the driver to turn off the vehicle again, but the driver refused, so the Officer began to enter the vehicle to try and turn off the vehicle. The passenger then fled from the scene handcuffed and the driver placed the vehicle in drive and began to drive off with the Officer half way inside the vehicle. The Officer continued to order the driver to stop and he eventually did, but he refused to abide by the Officer’s orders, by not turning off the vehicle. The Officer deployed his taser, but the driver of the vehicle was able to exit the vehicle and flee from the Officer.
The passenger was found fleeing on foot through the Speedway Gas Station parking lot and was taken into custody by Lake Station police. The passenger was identified as Armani Jones, 19, from South Holland. After a short foot pursuit, the driver of the vehicle was also taken into custody. The Officer suffered minor scratches during this confrontation.
Hobart Officers conducted a search of the vehicle and recovered a loaded firearm. Detectives examined the weapon recovered from the vehicle, they noticed an extended metal piece off the rear of the slide and through their experience this piece is possibly used to manipulate the weapon from semi-automatic to fully automatic. During a custodial interview with Mr. Ross, he acknowledged to Detectives that the firearm recovered was his and it is fully automatic and that he had purchased it a few months prior for $600 or $700 dollars. Detectives had the firearm inspected a Hobart Police Firearms Instructor, he thoroughly inspected the firearm and determined that the retro-fitted piece affixed to the rear of the slide is consistent with a device that will convert a semi-automatic firearm to a fully automatic firearm. The Hobart Firearms Instructor test fired the weapon at the gun range and determined that the firearm was in fact fully automatic.
“The firearm recovered from this young adult is an unfortunate trend that is occurring throughout the region, but the more concerning detail of this firearm is that it was converted from semi-automatic to fully automatic, coupled with the fact that there were also 2 additional high-capacity magazines recovered with this weapon. These types of firearms recovered will only intensify the amount violence we see on our streets here in the region and make it that much more dangerous for our communities and law enforcement as a whole. The Hobart Police department is committed to continue to serve and protect our community from the scourge of our society who willfully choose to exploit and victimize our community,” Gonzales said.
On January 21, 2021, Darron D. Ross, 22 years of age of Park Forest Illinois was charged through the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office with the following charges:
Possession of a Machine Gun a Level 5 Felony
Kidnapping Level a 5 Felony
Resisting Law Enforcement a Level 6 Felony
Carrying a Handgun Without a License a Class A Misdemeanor
Resisting Law Enforcement a Class A Misdemeanor
Possession of Marijuana a Class B Misdemeanor
Armani Jones, 19, of South Holland Illinois was also charged through the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office with the following charges:
Resisting Law Enforcement a Class A Misdemeanor
Theft a Class A Misdemeanor (For the theft of the Officer’s handcuffs)
Mr. Jones currently has an active warrant for his arrest and is not in custody. No picture of Jones was available at the time of this release.
