A Sterling man has pleaded not guilty to multiple weapons charges filed in connection with an Oct. 30 shooting that injured a resident in that city.

Robert Bellows Jr., 36, is being held in the Whiteside County Jail on one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm, one count of burglary, one count of reckless discharge of a firearm, and one count of criminal trespass to vehicles in connection with the Oct. 30 shooting. Two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm were filed against him after a search warrant was served at his home on Nov. 12.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at a preliminary hearing in Whiteside County Circuit Court in Morrison.

The charges stem from a report of gunshots in the 500 block of East Avenue in Sterling that Sterling police were dispatched to at 10:22 p.m. Oct. 30. When officers arrived, they found a resident who was shot, and an investigation was initiated by Sterling detectives, according to a news release.

As a result of that investigation, Sterling police, Illinois State Police Criminal Investigation Division agents, Whiteside County Sheriff’s Office deputies, and the ISP SWAT Team executed a search warrant on Nov. 12 at Bellows’ residence on Second Avenue in Sterling, and Bellows was taken into custody.

At issue at Wednesday’s preliminary hearing was whether the three guns found in the home on Nov. 12 belonged to Bellows.

During the hearing, Sterling Police Officer Tanner Wilhelm testified that three guns were found in the home’s master bedroom – two of them were in the dresser, and the third was found in a hospital bed in that room. Bellows is a felon, has no Firearm Owners Identification card, his identification shows he lives at the home, and the guns were found in his bedroom, Wilhelm said under questioning by Whiteside County Assistant State’s Attorney Lauren Homan.

But defense attorney James Mertes had questions about whether Bellows actually possessed any of the three guns found in the home when the search was carried out.

While Wilhelm said Bellows told officers during a police interview that anything illegal they found in the home was his, Mertes countered that Bellows never specifically said the guns were his. Wilhelm, under questioning by Mertes, said that of the three guns, an eTrace report indicates one is registered to an adult woman who lives in the home, while another one of the three is registered to a Rochelle man. The registration information on the third gun had not yet been determined, Wilhelm testified.

Wilhem also acknowledged that the guns have not yet been tested for either fingerprint or DNA evidence.

In trying to establish that Bellows might not own or possess any of the three guns, Mertes questioned whether anyone else had access to the house and could have brought the guns in. Wilhelm said the home had been under surveillance on and off for about a week prior to the day the search warrant was served; Mertes said the on-and-off surveillance doesn’t rule out another person bringing a gun into the residence.

Mertes asked for Bellows to be released on detention, which Whiteside County Judge Hany G. Khoury denied.

Bellows will next appear in court at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 17 for a pretrial conference.