Prosecutors say a 20-year-old man was caught with a loaded gun in Fox Lake and also robbed a Round Lake Beach convenience store at gunpoint earlier this summer.

Donald Shifflett, 20, of Round Lake Beach, was charged with armed robbery with a firearm, four counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, robbery, burglary and theft.

Officers with the Fox Lake Police Department around 12:11 a.m. on October 9 witnessed a car run through a stop sign.

Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Nicholas Shepherd said the driver saw the officer and stopped for a long time before continuing to commit another traffic offense.

Officers saw the car’s occupants, who had pulled into an alley off a dead-end street, moving when they approached during the traffic stop, Shepherd said.

None of the occupants lived on the dead end street. The car smelled of fresh cannabis.

The passengers were ordered out of the car, and a backpack containing a semi-automatic handgun with a loaded magazine was found behind the driver’s seat, Shepherd said.

Shepherd said Shifflett was in the front passenger seat within reach of the backpack, which contained items with his name on it.

Shifflett admitted the gun was his and that it was stolen, Shepherd said. He does not have a concealed carry license or firearms owner’s identification card and is under 21 years of age.

Officers suspected the gun was used in an armed robbery that occurred late in the afternoon on June 11 at Express Food and Liquor, 1306 North Cedar Lake Road in Round Lake Beach.

During the incident, officers responded to the store and spoke with the cashier and several witnesses, Shepherd said.

The cashier said she was working when the offender, described as a young white man wearing a hoodie and a face mask, entered the store and walked down an aisle.

Shepherd said the offender approached the teller and pulled out a black handgun and pointed it at the teller while demanding money from the register.

A patron witnessed the robbery and said he ran to the bathroom where he called 911, Shepherd said.

The offender jumped over the counter and took the money before fleeing the store.

A Lake County Sheriff’s canine responded and followed the suspect’s scent trail.

Shepherd said the trail ended in the 1400 block of Pleasant Drive, where Shifflett lived in an apartment.

Clothing was recovered and video surveillance was reviewed, leading investigators to suspect Shifflett was the perpetrator, Shepherd said.

Cell phone data pointed to Shifflett at the scene at the time of the robbery and the route the offender was believed to have fled, Shepherd said.

Two Lake County judges granted separate petitions to hold Shifflett pending trial in both cases — the gun arrest in Fox Lake and the armed robbery in Round Lake Beach — following detention hearings this month.

Shifflett is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Tuesday.