A Logan Square teenager who first made headlines in 2012 when he designed the winning city sticker, only to have it pulled over concerns it contained gang signs, was arrested Tuesday for driving a stolen van.
Herbert Pulgar, 18, was charged with felony possession of a stolen motor vehicle and also faces several traffic citations, according to Chicago Police.
About 3:40 a.m. Tuesday, officers spotted the driver of a Chevrolet Astro van commit a minor traffic violation, police said. They ran the license plate and discovered the van had been reported stolen.
Officers tried to pull the van over, and the teen tried to run away but was arrested, police said.
Pulgar, of the 3100 block of West Logan Boulevard, is scheduled to appear in bond court Wednesday.
In 2011, when Pulgar was a 15-year-old freshman at Lawrence Hall Youth Services, he submitted the winning design for Chicago’s 2012-13 city sticker contest, but Clerk Susana Mendoza later pulled the entry after some said they saw imagery related to the Maniac Latin Disciples embedded within.
Pulgar's design features the Chicago skyline, the city flag and outstretched hands.
When the sticker was chosen, Pulgar told NBC Chicago on "The Talk" that he created the design to thank everyone who helped him during a tragic incident more than 10 years ago. When he was 4 years old, he said his clothes caught on fire when he was playing with a candle.
Pulgar's father, Herbert Pulgar, was among 17 known gang and suspected gang members charged four years ago with trafficking cocaine. He's been the subject of an international manhunt ever since.
