Carbondale Alerts
Carbondale Police Press Release: Aggravated Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Possession of a Stolen Firearm
NEWS RELEASE
City of Carbondale, Illinois
09-05-25
For Immediate Release
CARBONDALE – On September 4, 2025, at 10:55 p.m., City of Carbondale Police Officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in 500 block of North Carico Street for a moving traffic violation. The driver, Kerwin J.C. Watson Jr., age 23 of Murphysboro, was found to have a suspended driver’s license and was arrested. During the investigation, Watson was found to be in possession of a firearm that was stolen, and an illegal amount of suspected cannabis. Watson was charged with Aggravated Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Possession of a Stolen Firearm, Possession of Cannabis, and Driving While License Suspended. Watson was incarcerated in the Jackson County Jail pending a detention hearing. Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact the police department at the numbers listed below. The investigation remains active and ongoing.
Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact the City of Carbondale Police Department at (618) 549-2121. You may also call the Carbondale/SIU Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (618) 549-COPS (2677) or the Murphysboro/Jackson County anonymous tip line at (618) 687-COPS (2677). Anonymous tips may also be made by selecting the “Crime Stoppers” tab on this website’s main page. Please help yourself and your county, its communities, and the university campus by using these numbers if you witness or have any information about a crime. Cash rewards for information that leads to an arrest are also made anonymously. Remember, crime doesn’t pay, but Crime Stoppers does!
The mission of the Carbondale Police Department is to work in partnership with our community to preserve life, protect human rights, protect property and improve quality of life by providing police service to all in a fair, sensitive, and professional manner.