WHEATON, Ill. — A Dresden Generating Station employee accused of aggravated carjacking with a firearm pleaded not guilty Monday in his first appearance at the DuPage County Courthouse since his May 9 arrest.

According to Jerome Siegan, manager of communications and special projects for the DuPage County Clerk of the Circuit Court, Michael Buhrman, 31, of Coal City, made his plea and was also granted permission to leave the state of Illinois for nearly a week in June to visit his son in Nebraska.

According to police reports, Buhrman was arrested by Woodridge police after they said he approached a woman in a Kohl's parking lot, pointed a .45-caliber handgun at her, ordered her out of the vehicle and drove off with her car. He eventually was stopped and arrested, with police finding a loaded handgun and Buhrman still wearing a Halloween mask to conceal his identity.