Nearly 100 Guns Found in Abandoned Home

A beautiful brick ranch in the quiet area south of Laraway Road, set back at least a hundred yards from the street and up against a private pond, was home most recently to mice.

Mice that ran through the New Lenox Township home amid a mini-landfill of trash and nearly 100 guns. This was all discovered a couple weeks ago after the owner went to evict his renters.

The home, in the 2000 block of Spencer Road, was rented by Robert and Carole Viktora for about a year, said. Spokeswoman Kathy Hoffmeyer said they always paid rent on time, but when they failed to last month the owner came to see what was up.

The landlord flew from his home in Florida and went by the house Nov. 4. After knocking, he looked in the windows and saw piles of trash throughout the house. He looked in another window and saw a large number of guns, and that's when he called police. 

"There was trash everywhere and mice running around," Hoffmeyer said. "It was horrible."

In total, police seized 43 rifles, 31 pistols and 17 shotguns. There's now a big blue Dumpster in the driveway.

Meanwhile, the Viktoras are nowhere to be found. Robert Viktora legally holds a firearm owner’s identification card, so there's no crime for the possession of guns, Hoffmeyer said. She said the guns will be held "for safe-keeping," and police will review them to see if any didn't belong to Viktora.

"There's nothing more to do on our end," Hoffmeyer said, adding that the landlord could still press charges through the State Attorney's Office.