Auto Dealer Found Half-Naked In Bentley
CHICAGO (CBS) - Police arrested the owner of a Western Avenue auto dealership, after he was found naked from the waist down inside a Bentley with a loaded handgun.
Eugene Bernshtam, 43, of the 500 block of North Lake Shore Drive, is charged with unlawful use of a weapon, a felony, police said. He was also cited with indecent exposure, an ordinance violation, and for not having a city firearm permit.
Bernshtam was ordered held on $50,000 bond on Wednesday and a preliminary hearing was set for Nov. 9, Cook County State's Attorney's office spokesman Andy Conklin said.
Police received a call about a man going around naked from the waist down, and found Bernshtam, 43, in the in the front passenger seat of a 2006 Bentley in the 2400 block of West Chicago Avenue, according to police. He was indeed naked from the waist down, and his pants were lying in the back seat.
Bernshtam was trying to cover himself with a black sweater, and police told him to put his pants back on. When officers asked Bernshtam what he was doing, he told them he had just urinated in an alley, according to a police report.
When officers directed Bernshtam to step out of the Bentley, they saw a handgun sticking out of the rear pouch of the passenger seat, according to the report.
The weapon did not have a round in the chamber, but was loaded with 13 rounds in its magazine. Bernshtam told officers that he owns a car dealership and he keeps the weapon with him when he is transporting money, the report said.
The Bentley was impounded. Police said it was Bernshtam's first arrest in the city.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
