COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A loaded Glock pistol was found in the backpack of a man watching the Chicago Air and Water Show at Castaways Bar and Grill on North Avenue Beach Sunday, prosecutors said.
With the show underway and the beach crawling with spectators, Jamaal Applewhite, 28, was arrested Sunday at the North Avenue Beach bar, where security officers were conducting routine searches of backpacks, according to court records.
They flagged down police outside Castaways after allegedly discovering the gun loaded with 13 rounds in Applewhite's backpack.
Applewhite has a valid Firearm Owner Identification (FOID) card. Still, the Waukegan man was charged with unauthorized use of a weapon and ordered held on $50,000 bond by Cook County Judge James Brown on Monday.
Although the state recently passed a law allowing for the concealed carry of weapons, permits to do so won't likely be issued until next year, officials have said.
Friends of Applewhite, who attended his brief court hearing, said he is a responsible gun owner with no criminal record. They also theorized that Applewhite forgot the gun was in his backpack when he went to the beach.
