Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

CPS Teacher Busted for Public Urination, Having a Gun, Officials Say

By Erin Meyer | December 28, 2012 7:21am | Updated on December 28, 2012 5:15pm
 CPS teacher Mohammad Khawaja, 25, appeared in Cook County bond court Thursday. He's accused of urinating in public and having an unregistered gun in his car.  
CPS teacher Mohammad Khawaja, 25, appeared in Cook County bond court Thursday. He's accused of urinating in public and having an unregistered gun in his car.  
View Full Caption
Cook County Sheriffs Department

CHICAGO — Call it a teachable moment.

A city public school teacher was nabbed for having a gun after fleeing from cops who spotted him relieving himself in a West Garfield Park alley, authorities said.

The drama unfolded in an alley near the 4400 block of West Washington Boulevard Wednesday morning when cops saw Mohammad Khawaja urinating "in plain view of [officers] and citizens walking past," according to police reports.

When the officers tried to stop him, Khawaja, a teacher at Mary Gage Peterson Elementary, 5510 N. Christiana St. in Budlong Woods, allegedly jumped in his car and tried to speed away, prosecutors told a Cook County judge during bond court on Thursday.

But he didn't get very far — police immediately cut him off and stopped the vehicle.

Khawaja's troubles went from bad to worse when investigators searched the car and discovered an unregistered Smith & Wesson .38 Special in the back seat as well as some pot, prosecutors said.

"The gun isn't mine, but I think a guy I gave a ride last night left it there," Khawaja allegedly told investigators.

Police also found a baggie containing a "green, leafy substance," according to court documents.

Khawaja is charged with unlawful use of a weapon, parking in an alley, urinating in a public way and possession of less than 2.5 grams of cannabis, according to court records.

A Cook County judge set his bail at $50,000 Thursday.

Chicago Public Schools confirmed that Khawaja is employed as a teacher, and said he would be kept out of the classroom - with pay - while the district conducts an investigation.

A woman who answered the phone at Khawaja's home declined to comment.