Chicago Police Recover Firearms, Including a Rifle and Machine Gun, on Magnificent Mile; Two Charged

Chicago cops investigating a wanted vehicle on the Magnificent Mile arrested two men and recovered four loaded firearms, including a machine gun and a rifle, according to CPD reports.

Judge Mary Marubio ordered Davion Thomas, 21, and Erick Griffith, 24, detained as public safety risks on Tuesday afternoon.

Around 3 p.m. on Monday, officers went to the area of Walton and Michigan to look for a white GMC Acadia that had fled from police and was allegedly occupied by someone with a rifle, the reports said. They found the car in the 100 block of East Walton, not far from the Drake Hotel.

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As officers looked over the car, they saw Thomas walk out of a nearby store. When he saw the cops, he clutched his waist and started running as the police walked toward him, according to his arrest report.

The police caught up with him in the 100 block of East Delaware. While they took him into custody, a loaded handgun equipped with an illegal machine gun switch and outfitted with a drum-style magazine fell from his waistband, his arrest report said.

Thomas allegedly told the police that he carried the gun for protection, and he knew it had a switch that allowed it to generate automatic gunfire.

He is charged with unlawful use of a machine gun and possession of a defaced firearm.

Meanwhile, officers responding to the suspicious vehicle call allegedly saw Griffith ditch a stolen pistol in a planter on the 900 block of North Michigan. His arrest report said he had the GMC’s key fob in his pocket.

Inside the vehicle, police allegedly found another loaded handgun with an extended ammunition magazine and a short-barreled “ghost” rifle.

Prosecutors charged Griffith with two counts of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and possession of a stolen firearm.