July 25--A 32-year-old real estate broker who is accused of bringing a loaded gun into O'Hare International Airport on Thursday said he forgot it was in his briefcase because he left it there "years ago.''
Justin Ross Kaufmann, of the 300 block of East South Water Street, in the Near East Side neighborhood, was charged with boarding an aircraft with a weapon and having a firearm without a valid FOID card, police said.
Kaufmann, wearing a white shirt and a business suit, appeared Friday afternoon before Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr., who released him on his own recognizance.
He was arrested Thursday while trying to pass through a preflight screening checkpoint while on his way to board a flight to Cleveland, Ohio for a business trip, according to court documents. Screeners using an X-ray spotted a handgun loaded with five rounds in his black soft-sided briefcase and Kaufmann was arrested about 6:45 a.m., according to court documents.
He told officers that he had placed it in that briefcase "years ago'' and forgot about it, according to a police report. Kaufmann told police he'd last used the briefcase about five years ago, the report said.
He has one prior misdemeanor conviction from out of state for possession of cannabis, prosecutors said.
