CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — A 25-year-old Urbana man is under arrest after University of Illinois Police said they found a gun and marijuana inside his car during a traffic stop on campus.
Officials said the arrest happened just after 11 p.m. Monday night. A University Police officer initially stopped a car at Green and Wright Streets because it had a headlight out, but the officer could smell burn marijuana as they approached the car.
The driver, identified as Shandon Hillsman, is said to have given a freshly rolled marijuana cigarette to the officer and admitted to having recently smoked marijuana. This was enough evidence to allow officers to legally search the car.
Officers discovered multiple bags of marijuana and a scale, along with a gun. There was also a fully loaded magazine, an empty extended magazine and a switch capable of converting a semiautomatic gun into a fully automatic one.
Hillsman’s FOID card, officials added, had been previously suspended.
He was taken to the Champaign County Jail and booked on charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, armed violence and delivery of marijuana. Jail records indicate he has not been released yet.
Hillsman is the fourth person to be arrested near campus in the last 10 days after police found them to be in possession of a gun. Last week, U of I Police reported that they had arrested three people on weapons charges.