A Wisconsin man who was pulled over with an AR-15 rifle and a pressure cooker near O’Hare International Airport over the weekend appeared in court Sunday on a felony gun charge.
Santos Zamora, 32, of Sheboygan, Wis., stood before Cook County Judge John Lyke on aggravated unlawful use of a weapon after a routine traffic stop Saturday sparked a counter-terrorism investigation, according to prosecutors and police.
Around 8 a.m. Saturday, Chicago police stopped Zamora on Cumberland Road near the Kennedy Expressway after driving 20 mph over the speed limit, prosecutors said. During the traffic stop, an officer noticed Zamora had a black gun case in the front passenger seat of the car, according to the police report.
Zamora informed the officer he had a 45-caliber handgun between his feet and an AR-15 rifle in the trunk, the police report said. Officers also recovered a pressure cooker in the trunk of Zamora’s 2005 Mitsubishi Galant, according to court records.
Pressure cookers have been known to be used in makeshift explosive devices, most notably in the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. Investigators eventually dispelled concerns that Zamora may have been plotting to use the pressure cooker as a weapon after they found traces of food inside, police said.
Zamora, who did not have an Illinois Firearm Owners Identification card, was arrested without incident. He also faces traffic violations for speeding and driving without insurance.
A small group of Zamora’s relatives sat in the courtroom gallery — including his mother, sister and brother — and described the ordeal as a misunderstanding. They say Zamora, a graphic designer and father, traveled to Chicago to visit his newborn nephew. At the time of the traffic stop, however, he had plans with his brother Roberto Zamora.
“We were supposed to go to the gun range,” Gage Park resident Roberto Zamora said. “He wasn’t familiar with the law in Illinois. He’s been living in Wisconsin.”
Another relative added, “He can’t have a FOID here, so I don’t understand why they say he needs one.”
Out-of-state residents are allowed to have firearms and shoot at local gun ranges, but Illinois law requires that weapons be unloaded, enclosed in a case and not immediately accessible or in a nonfunctioning state when being transported. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources recommends firearm owners carry their weapons unloaded in a case to prevent violating state law.
Police earlier said the suspect was in town to drop off a friend at O’Hare.
At Sunday’s court hearing, Judge Lyke granted Zamora a $5,000 bond. Zamora’s public defender asked that he be allowed to return to Wisconsin, however, Lyke delayed the decision until his next court date Friday.
Twitter @_tonybriscoe
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