Sleeping driver caught with gun in lap when cops woke him up: police

A Joliet man fell asleep at a west side traffic light, and officers noticed he had a handgun in his lap when they went to wake him up, police said.

The driver, 36-year-old Kevin Underwood, was arrested on probable cause of illegal transfer of a firearm, illegal possession of ammunition, possession of a weapon by a felon and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, records show.

Underwood ran into trouble about 3:30 a.m. Sunday, when patrol officers spotted a vehicle stopped at a traffic light on Essington Road at Fiday Road, police said. When the light turned green, the vehicle didn’t budge.

“Officers approached and observed that the driver, Underwood, was asleep in the vehicle,” the Joliet Police Department said in a statement released Sunday. “As officers attempted to wake Underwood, they observed a handgun on his lap.”

The officers eventually succeeded in waking Underwood, police said, and took away the loaded handgun that was in his lap.

Underwood was booked into the Will County jail shortly before 5:30 a.m. Sunday. He remained in custody Sunday evening and was scheduled to appear in court Monday afternoon.