Police make another gun-related arrest at Naperville TopGolf, fifth since September

Police made another gun-related arrest at Naperville’s TopGolf facility last weekend. That makes five since September.

The latest occurred on New Year’s Eve when Dequan J. Dent Davis, 26 of Calumet City, was taken into custody at the 3211 Odyssey Court venue and charged with felony counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, according to police reports.

Davis was arrested after police spotted a firearm inside his car while on patrol in TopGolf’s parking lot, Naperville police Cmdr. Michaus Williams said.

A second person — Evan Bradley Edwards, 34, of Davenport, Iowa — was arrested at the same time on a warrant issued outside of Naperville, Williams said.

Davis’ arrest continues what has been a trend at Topgolf’s Naperville facility. Over a two-month period last fall, police made four separate, but similar gun busts there — all resulting from an officer spotting a gun through a car window while doing a foot patrol of the venue’s parking lot.

After the fourth bust, police said they were working with TopGolf to keep a close eye on safety.

“Obviously, through proactive policing, we’ve been taking some firearms out of the TopGolf lot” from people who are not allowed to have them or have had their gun ownership rights revoked, Naperville Police Chief Jason Arres said at a Naperville City Council meeting in November. “But what I would like to say is, you know, TopGolf is just as concerned as we are from (a) safety standpoint.”

Arres reiterated that message this week.

“We’ll remain proactive,” he said. “The incidents aren’t slowing down to the liking of us or the TopGolf, but … we’ll continue to partner with them to eventually get this number down to zero.”

Arres said that to his knowledge, none of those arrested at TopGolf over the past few months “have any ties to each other.” Rather, he said the TopGolf parking lot “is just a difficult area for (the business) to track if there’s weapons coming in.”

On the city’s end, the chief said, “(Our officers are) going where the data is and being proactive in those areas to keep this community safe.”

tkenny@chicagotribune.com