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Crime & Safety

La Grange Park Police Find Marijuana, Drug Paraphernalia During Traffic Stop

Driver says he would not lie about having anything illegal because his grandfather was a police officer.

La Grange Park police said they found 8.1 grams of marijuana and drug paraphernalia on a Lyons man they stopped April 28 for not wearing his seat belt.

Asked if he had anything illegal on him, Michael E. Shuppe, 23, of 4427 Joliet Ave., told an officer, “No, I would not lie to you. My grandfather was a police officer,”  according to police. An officer said Shuppe eventually turned over a plastic bag containing a substance that field tested as cannabis;  a black one-hitter Sox glass pipe;  a black grinder used to shred marijuana, along with rolling papers.

He was charged with possession of cannabis, 2.5 to 10 grams,  and possession of drug paraphernalia and also ticketed for no seat belt. Shuppe posted $100 cash bail and faces a June 8 court date in the 4th Municipal District courthouse in Maywood.   

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An officer was in the Citgo gas station lot, LaGrange Road and 31st Street, at about 6:03 am. when he saw a red Chevrolet pass by southbound with the male driver not wearing a seat belt. The officer  followed, then pulled up alongside the 2002 Monte Carlo and said the seat belt was hanging from the anchor point and not around the driver, later identified as Shuppe. The car was stopped in the 500 block of north LaGrange Road.

Police said Shuppe told the officer he has not worn his seat belt since a friend was trapped in a vehicle after a crash. The officer said he noticed an odor of burnt cannabis on the driver’s breath and a smell of fresh cannabis from the vehicle.  Asked about the smell, Shuppe told the officer that his friends smoked in his car on April 20.  Asked why the odor would be so strong after eight days, the driver then said the marijuana was smoked three days ago, police said.

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After further questioning, he pulled out the pipe and grinder from his pants pockets and the plastic bag of marijuana from under the driver’s seat, police said.  The rolling papers also were found on him.

At the police station, he declined to say anything about the incident except, “What is there to say. I screwed up,” according to police.

Chicago woman ticketed

A Chicago woman was ticketed at about 3:39 p.m. April 28 by La Grange Park police who said she was driving on the 1400 block of Kemman Avenue with only one headlight lit during a rainstorm.  

Helen R. Chandler, 43, was ticketed for one headlight, no insurance and driving while her license is suspended. Her court date is May 25 in Maywood.

A La Grange Park police officer said she was at 29th Street and Kemman when she saw a blue vehicle going south with only one headlight activated. When pulled over, the driver told the officer that her license had expired, police said. The officer told Chandler that two headlights are required during inclement weather.  

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