Page 55 - November 2019 FOP

Officers in 014 honored for investigation that turned up weapons, drug cache
n BY DAN CAMPANA
Two officers, two investigations, two violent offenders arrest- ed.
Officers Michael Silius and Alex Moreno, members of the 14th District tactical team, put their skills on display over the sum- mer when they took on a pair of domestic violence cases that ultimately led to the seizures of 11 weapons, a large quantity of drugs and the apprehension of two suspects accused of domes- tic attacks.
The efforts of Silius, a 14-year-veteran, and Moreno, who has five years on the job, earned them the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation’s Officers of the Month award for October.
Officials said the pair learned of two different incidents in- volving domestic disputes in which the offender showed violent behavior. In the first case, the suspect severely battered sever- al victims, including one who was strangled and a second who suffered a dislocated shoulder. The officers’ initial probe indi- cated that the suspect attacked several people — two of whom learned via social media that they shared a common attacker. They decided to cooperate with police, which bolstered the of- ficers’ investigation to the point where they learned the suspect was subject to two active orders of protection.
The officers also determined that the suspect possessed sev- eral weapons. The amount of information they uncovered re- sulted in a search warrant being issued for the offender’s resi- dence. The search turned up two loaded AR-15 assault rifles, a .22-caliber rifle, three loaded semi-automatic handguns, thou- sands of rounds of ammunition and multiple rifle scopes. The offender was arrested after returning to his residence.
The second incident involved an offender who pointed a gun at a woman and threatened her and her child. Police said the woman had been battered by the suspect. She fled to Iowa to get away from the man, who also used electronic communication to intimidate her. Silius and Moreno learned that the suspect had several handguns and rifles. They were able to arrest the of- fender without incident before finding several guns — a loaded .40-caliber handgun, a loaded AR-15, hundreds of live rounds and three loaded magazines — in his vehicle.
The suspect’s capture allowed the victim to feel safe enough to return to Illinois to sign complaints against the man. A sub- sequent search of the offender’s residence turned up three ad- ditional loaded guns, as well as suspected cocaine, heroin and marijuana. Between the two cases, prosecutors charged the offenders with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, domestic battery and, in the second case, felony drug counts.
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