Peterson faces gun charge

BOLINGBROOK — After a warrant was issued for his arrest on a felony gun charge, Drew Peterson walked into a rear door at the Bolingbrook Police Department early Monday afternoon.

He was turning himself in.

Moments before, attorney Joel Brodsky had chauffered his infamous client to the building in a pale gold Mercedes. As they arrived, reporters, photographers and camera men swarmed the parking lot, searching for a glimpse of the former Bolingbrook police sergeant. Helicopters buzzed overhead.

After the department’s doors closed, Brodsky started talking. The warrant was for the unauthorized use of a weapon, he explained.

It was the latest development in the search for Stacy Peterson, 23, a young mother of two and Peterson’s fourth wife. She disappeared Oct. 28, and police, family and friends have been searching for her ever since.

After she vanished, state police seized a laundry list of personal belongings from his Bolingbrook home, including 10 guns. Although some of the items have been returned to Peterson, he’s spent the past few months fighting for his guns.

On May 13, Will County Judge Richard Schoenstedt seemed willing to turn them over to one of Peterson’s grown sons and scheduled a hearing on the issue for 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

Then the warrant went out.

It accuses Peterson of owning a Colt Sporter Lightweight, 223 Remington rifle with an attached EOTech electronic sight. Brodsky called the sight a “flash suppressor.”

By law, the gun should be 16 inches long. The warrant alleges that it is three-eighths of an inch too short of the legal length for a rifle, Brodsky explained.

The charge won’t stand up in court, Brodsky said. When the gun was seized last year, Peterson still was a police officer.

“It’s one of his duty weapons,” the lawyer said, standing in the police parking lot. “He was on the SWAT team for over 10 years.”

SWAT officers are allowed to have non-conforming weapons, Brodsky said. Although Peterson bought the gun himself, he registered it with the department.

As the lawyer spoke, the press surrounded him, trapping Brodsky against the driver’s side of his car. Several bystanders circled the crowd, clearly delighted to be close to the excitement. A young woman with a long blond ponytail used her cell phone to snap pictures of the media circus. And a grinning man held up a tiny baby, trying to push the child in front of the television cameras.

The warrant is no big deal, Brodsky said. It’s simply another ploy to keep the guns from being returned to their rightful owner. He predicted that the felony ultimately would be dismissed.

“I believe the Will County state’s attorney was not given full and accurate information when they brought this charge,” Brodsky said. “State police want neither Drew nor his family to get these guns back.”

Although Peterson has been arrested by his former colleagues, he’s not upset, Brodsky said. While with the police, he chatted, joked and laughed.

“Maybe in their minds, it’s a tactic,” Brodsky said. “To try and make him sweat.” But he said it wouldn’t work.

After he answered a few more questions, the lawyer asked some of the reporters for the address of the Will County Jail. Then he turned the Mercedes toward Joliet to post the $7,500 bond for his client.

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