STUPID STUPID STUPID

Woman arrested for trying to bring loaded gun into courthouse
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June 30, 2009

BY LISA DONOVAN Staff Reporter
A 30-year-old woman was arrested for trying to bring a loaded handgun in to a Cook County courthouse Tuesday, authorities said.

Tammy Dobbin, of far south suburban Beecher, was arrested and charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, a felony, after a sheriff’s deputy discovered the gun in her book bag. She is jailed in lieu of $100,000 bond.

Dobbin had no business in court Tuesday, authorities said, but was accompanying her boyfriend to a paternity courtroom at 32 W. Randolph. .

She was stopped at a security checkpoint outside a courtroom, like everyone else, and an X-ray machine revealed she had a solid metal object in her book bag, authorities said. Sheriff's Deputy Jennifer Matthews asked about it, but Dobbin said she knew nothing about such an object in her back, authorities say. When the deputy opened the bag, she found a 9mm — loaded with 10 live rounds and equipped with a laser pointer.

Dobbin later said she mistakenly left the gun in the bag after target practice, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

Dobbin doesn’t have a criminal record, but her boyfriend does, said Steve Patterson, sheriff’s spokesman.

“As a result, we’re continuing to investigate the case.”