Samantha A. Weiss, 31, of Waukegan.

A 31-year-old woman on parole is accused of driving away from police in a vehicle and then ditching a loaded gun in a residential area while fleeing on foot in Waukegan.

Samantha A. Weiss, 31, of Waukegan, was charged with felon in possession of a firearm, enhanced aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and fleeing or attempting to elude an officer.

Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen McConnell said an officer with the Waukegan Police Department attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Weiss on December 9.

The vehicle had an equipment violation and the driver refused to stop when the officer activated their lights and sirens.

The officer located the car down the road after he was flagged down by a family who reported an unknown car in their driveway, McConnell said.

Officers searched the area and located Weiss and her boyfriend who had been fleeing.

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McConnell said officers also found a loaded Glock handgun in the path that Weiss fled.

She admitted to driving the vehicle when it fled from police and admitted to running from the car because she had a warrant.

McConnell said Weiss also admitted that she possessed the gun and that it fell out of her pocket while she was running from the police.

Weiss is a convicted felon out of Wisconsin and is on parole with parole holds for multiple charges, McConnell said.

The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Weiss pending trial.

McConnell said that Weiss showed signs of severe drug addiction and threw a gun in a residential neighborhood, causing an inherent risk that a child could have found the gun in the backyard and picked it up.

McConnell also said that Weiss is a willful flight risk in addition to being a danger to the community.

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A public defender for Weiss said that while his client made admissions to the police, those admissions were not true and were made out of fear.

The attorney said that the injuries seen on Weiss’ face were from her boyfriend battering her and that the gun recovered belonged to the boyfriend.

Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the petition to detain Weiss following a detention hearing.

She remains held in the Lake County Jail and is set to appear in court again on January 7.