A retail theft investigation at the Elmhurst Kohl's ended with police pulling a stolen, fully automatic handgun from beneath the driver's seat of a suspect's car on Aug. 17.

Iziah Benavidez, 23, of the 2400 block of Algonquin Road in Rolling Meadows, was charged with unlawful possession of a machine gun, a Class X felony carrying a mandatory prison sentence, along with burglary, unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon and two counts of retail theft, according to a DuPage County State's Attorney's Office news release.

Judge Joshua Dieden denied Benavidez pre-trial release on Tuesday, Aug. 18. His next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 14 before Judge Ann Celine O'Hallaren Walsh.

How the stop unfolded

On Aug. 9, two men walked into the Kohl's at 303 S. Route 83, each grabbed a backpack, stuffed other merchandise inside and left without paying, prosecutors said. They fled in a Nissan. Kohl's loss prevention staff reported the theft to Elmhurst police on Aug. 15.

Two days later, at about 6:30 p.m. Aug. 17, officers spotted the same Nissan and pulled it over. They learned Benavidez had allegedly stolen a battery charger from the same store earlier that day; the charger was visible in the backseat, according to prosecutors.

When officers asked Benavidez to step out and searched the vehicle, they found a loaded 10mm Glock 29 under the driver's seat with a 24-round magazine and a switch enabling fully automatic fire. A second weapon, a 9mm pistol, was in the glove compartment. The Chicago Police Department had reported the Glock stolen in January 2026, Shaw Local reported.

Chief cites technology, officer readiness

Elmhurst Police Chief Michael McLean said in the Aug. 19 release that the department used technology to alert officers when a known theft suspect returned to the scene of a prior crime, enabling the stop. McLean said officers must be equipped with the resources to respond to criminals who repeatedly target the community, including those armed with fully automatic weapons.

DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin called the modified weapon alarming, saying an illegally owned firearm altered to fire automatically increases the danger exponentially. Berlin said anyone found possessing such a weapon in DuPage County will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

The identity of the second man involved in the Aug. 9 backpack theft has not been released. No additional arrests have been announced.