$53K in Narcotics Taken Off Streets During Aurora Traffic Stops

AURORA, IL — Two recent traffic stops by the Aurora Police Department have resulted in heroin, cocaine and marijuana with a street value of over $53,000 being seized.

The latest stop occurred around 7:45 a.m., Dec. 6, according to the Aurora Police Department, when a vehicle driven by Ado D. Autman, 28, of the 1300 block of Pioneer Road in Crest Hill was stopped after pulling out in front of an Aurora Police Patrol Officer at Fox Pointe and Mair Drives. Upon investigation, it was learned that Autman was driving on a revoked license and also did not have proof of insurance, police said. When his vehicle, a 2015 Jeep Cherokee was inventoried subsequent to Autman’s arrest, a backpack allegedly containing over 10.5 ounces of heroin, over 3.5 ounces of cocaine and one pound of cannabis were found, police said. The narcotics have a street value of around $50,000. In addition, $1,885 in cash was allegedly found Autman’s his front pockets.

The Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office authorized two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and a single count of unlawful possession of cannabis with intent to deliver. The controlled substance charges are Class-X felonies and call for enhanced penalties if Autman is convicted. Autman posted the required ten percent of his $90,000 bail and was released from Aurora Police custody earlier today.

An ounce of cocaine, or about 29 grams, with a street value of $3,000 and $421 in cash was seized after a traffic stop at around 11:05 p.m., Dec. 3 in the area of State Street and North Avenue, according to the Aurora Police Department. Steve A. Suarez, 40, of the 600 block of Woodlawn Avenue in Aurora, was charged with single counts of manufacturing or delivery of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a controlled substance through the Kane County State’s Attorney.

Suarez was a passenger in a 1997 Ford Expedition driven by a 43-year-old Ottawa man who allegedly failed to use his turn signal at Fourth Avenue and State Street. When the Special Operations investigators who curbed the vehicle approached it, they spotted open beer in plain view in the back seat. When Suarez went to produce his identification as requested by the officers, he allegedly pulled a bag containing the cocaine out of one of his jacket pockets. His attempt to conceal the narcotics by closing his hand around it failed, as one of the officers had already spotted the bag. He was taken into custody without incident.

Since Suarez was already on parole for drug charges, a new warrant was issued by the Illinois Department of Corrections stemming from the latest felonies. He is being held in lieu of $150,000 bail at the Kane County Correctional Center in St. Charles.

The driver of the vehicle was ticketed for failure to signal and verbally warned about the vehicle’s excessively loud exhaust. A rear seat passenger, a 36-year-old Aurora man, was charged with illegal transportation of alcohol after a beer was found in one of his jacket pockets. One other passenger, a 40-year-old Ottawa man, was not charged.

Photos: From left, Steve A. Suarez and Ado D. Autman.