CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A man with a loaded gun and an extended magazine was arrested Saturday night as he headed toward the campus area.
At about 9:52 p.m. Saturday, a University of Illinois Police officer heard a radio communication that an officer in a neighboring jurisdiction had heard gunshots about a mile north of campus. The University Police officer strategically parked his patrol car between that location and the campus area in an attempt to intercept any vehicles that might have been leaving the area of the shooting and heading toward campus.
Within about three minutes, the officer saw a vehicle traveling at a high speed from the area of the shooting. The driver of the vehicle disobeyed a red light and failed to signal at least two turns. The officer attempted to stop the vehicle in the 300 block of East White Street, Champaign, for the traffic violations.
A man, later identified as Richard E. Frazier, 20, of Champaign, exited the vehicle from the passenger side and ran from the stop as the car pulled over. The officer caught up to Frazier in the 300 block of East Springfield Avenue, Champaign, about two blocks from where the foot chase began. Believing that Frazier had just fled from a shooting and may have been armed, the officer drew his firearm and stopped Frazier at gunpoint.
Frazier threw a handgun and an extended magazine to the side as he complied with the officer’s directions. He was handcuffed and taken into custody without further incident.
Police found two more loaded handgun magazines in a fanny pack Frazier was carrying with him.
Frazier was arrested for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, resisting a police officer and illegal possession of cannabis in a motor vehicle for a small amount of marijuana that was also in the fanny pack.
