Page 47 - February 2020 FOP Magazine

Award-winning gun recovery in 10th District
n BY DAN CAMPANA
The year-long effort to take guns off the streets of Chicago netted more than 10,000 illegal firearms being seized, but perhaps no recovery stood out more than an August 2019 search that turned up 60 in one location.
The work of the 10th District Tactical Team in that August warrant service on the city’s West Side earned Sergeant Juan Perez, Lieutenant Jeff Schaaf and Officers Jaime Acosta, Jose Carrera, Jesus Garcia, Anthony Fosco, Miguel Amesquita, Rich- ard Waszak, Jacob Garza, Michael Carre- on, Adam Bourdosis and Kenneth Moranz the Chicago Police Memorial Founda- tion’s Officer of the Month award for De- cember.
It all started on Aug. 15, when the team obtained a search warrant for a residence near Cullerton and Pulaski after learning about the presence of guns and drugs at the home. The team set up surveillance and observed the target arrive around 9 p.m. Officers forced entry a short time lat- er and took the man into custody.
While clearing the remainder of the res- idence, officers observed a second person person attempting to to flee by running through a kitchen and then up a stairwell.
Officers who went to secure the man im- mediately noticed two loaded AK-47 as- sault rifles leaning against the wall. within reach of where the man was positioned.
What followed was a systematic search of the residence that, over the course of several hours, turned up approximately 60 weapons, including multiple AK-47s, several Tec-9 automatic pistols, numer- ous semi-automatic handguns, revolvers, shotguns and rifles. Officers also found a large cache of ammunition, extended magazines, drum-style magazines, ba- nana clips and two bulletproof ballistic vests.
“These are a group of officers who work
together to take powerful illegal weapons off the streets in one of Chicago’s most violent areas. Together, this team has tak- en 168 weapons off the streets so far this year. They do this on a regular basis, not seeking any glory, just because they know the inherent danger these illegal weapons are on the streets of our city,” said CPMF Executive Director Phil Cline. “Each en- counter can be deadly, but they contin- ue to do it day in and out because that is what these good police officers do – they work to make our streets safer. It’s why we’re proud to recognize the entire 1064 team, and to make them our December officers of the month.”
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