
Police arrested an alleged drug dealer, who was wearing three pairs of pants while hiding drugs in his person, including in his buttocks, in North Chicago, prosecutors said.
Hassan A. Grant, 37, of Waukegan, was charged with possession of a controlled substance and obstructing a peace officer.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Group was working a case on 10th Street in North Chicago on January 7.
An officer observed Hassan A. Grant, 37, of Waukegan, and another subject conduct a hand-to-hand drug transaction, according to Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen McConnell.
Grant began heading down 10th Street toward Waukegan.
Officers learned from a source that Grant sells crack cocaine and heroin mixed with fentanyl, McConnell said.
The source also said Grant often hides drugs in his buttocks and was possibly armed with a gun looking to rob someone, McConnell said.
Officers stopped Grant in the 800 block of 10th Street in Waukegan.
McConnell said Grant was wearing three pairs of pants and gave consent to search his person.
Officers found a baggie containing less than a gram of substance containing cocaine.
A strip search showed that Grant was hiding suspected drugs between his buttocks. He refused to comply with officers who were seeking to retrieve it, McConnell said.
Grant began complaining of chest pain and an ambulance was called.
As Grant was moving on the cot in the ambulance, three more bags, which each had 0.2 grams of a substance containing cocaine, fell from Grant, McConnell said.
State records show Grant has been sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections on at least six separate occasions for offenses such as felon in possession of a firearm, aggravated fleeing to elude, residential burglary, possession of a controlled substance, driving on a revoked license and aggravated driving under the influence.
Grant was on parole at the time of his latest arrest for aggravated discharge of a firearm for a shooting that occurred in November 2020 in Waukegan. He received a nine-year and six-month sentence in September 2022 and was paroled on September 20, 2024.
Grant was charged in December for driving on a suspended license and placed on pre-trial release.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to revoke his release in that case after his drug arrest earlier this month. Lake County Judge Ari Fisz granted the petition.
The judge said Grant went to “great lengths” to hide the drugs on his person and that no conditions of release could ensure Grant would not commit further crimes.
Grant is scheduled to appear in court again on January 30 for a status of preliminary hearing.