Dupage Policy Journal

DuPage County State's Attorney Bob Berlin recently thanked those involved in the case of a man accused of being a felon on parole that was arrested for possession of a handgun and cocaine.  

According to a Thursday Facebook post by the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office, on Aug. 1, a Naperville Police Officer pulled over a vehicle that was driving 15 mph over the speed limit, and while conducting the traffic stop, the officer noticed the smell of cannabis coming from the vehicle. While searching the vehicle, the officer found not only bags of cannabis, but also a loaded Smith and Wesson pistol, as well as 17.4 grams of cocaine. At that time, the officer took the man, identified as Chicago resident Jerry Hill, age 39, into custody.

“I cannot commend our officers enough for the proactive policework they are doing every day, leading to arrests just like this one,” Naperville Chief of Police Jason Arres said, according to the release. “Traffic stops alone have led to the seizure of 71 illegally possessed firearms in Naperville in the first six months of this year. I can promise our residents and community members that the Naperville Police Department will continue to be diligent about taking illegal weapons off our streets, and I thank DuPage County State's Attorney Bob Berlin's office for their continued efforts to hold offenders accountable.”

Law enforcement determined that at the time of his arrest, Hill was a convicted felon currently on parole for drug charges. Hill appeared at a bond hearing on Aug. 4, at which time Judge Margaret O’Connell granted the State’s motion to deny him bail. 

“It is alleged that Mr. Hill, a convicted felon currently on parole for drug charges, was illegally in possession of a loaded handgun as well as more than seventeen grams of cocaine,” Berlin said. “This is the fourth time within one month that a DuPage County judge has denied bail for a defendant accused of serious crimes. The message coming from DuPage County is crystal clear, career criminals are not welcome and we will use every tool at our disposal to aggressively pursue and hold accountable anyone who would commit a crime while in DuPage County. I thank the Naperville Police Department for their outstanding work on this case that allegedly took a dangerous weapon out of the hands of a convicted felon. I also thank Assistant State’s Attorney Denis Cahill for his efforts in preparing a strong case against Mr. Hill.”

Hill is facing charges including one count of Armed Habitual Criminal (Class X Felony), one count of Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon – Prior Conviction (Class 2 Felony), one count of Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance (Class 4 Felony) and one count of Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor (Class 3 Felony).