YOUNGSTOWN Man gets his 6th music citation

Police were leaving a call on the North Side when they heard the loud music.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jamar A. Jones, in accepting his sixth loud music citation, told the officers no one gives him a break.
At arraignment Thursday in municipal court, Judge Robert A. Douglas Jr. released Jones, 28, of Compton Lane on his own recognizance. A pretrial has been set for Aug. 20.
Patrolmen Russell Davis and Frank Bigowski had been in the 900 block of Madison Avenue on Wednesday evening, answering a call. They heard loud music with heavy bass coming from the rear lot of 911 Madison on the North Side as they walked back to their cruiser.
The officers followed the sound and found Jones sitting in his 1986 Chevrolet Monte Carlo with the motor running. Jones, the officers said, turned the music down as they approached the car with its "20 INCH" vanity license plates.
Jones told the officers that he'd had the music on for only a minute "to check it out," reports show. He said they were picking on him and complained that nobody ever gives him a break and tells him to turn it down.
The officers said in their report that the disturbing music could be heard from a minimum distance of 100 feet. Reports show that Jones has two 15-inch speakers in his trunk.
Repeat offender
The index operator downtown told the officers that Jones had been issued five loud music citations in the past and had three convictions.
In October 2000, Jones pleaded no contest to a reduced loud music charge and Municipal Judge Robert A. Douglas Jr. fined him $100, which he paid.
Last September, Municipal Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly rejected a suggestion to consider each of Jones' next four loud music charges a first offense.
Police cited Jones for loud music June 18, 20 and 24, 2001. Officers then stopped Jones again July 31, 2001, and issued another loud music citation.
Anthony J. Farris, an assistant city prosecutor, had wanted to work out a plea agreement where Jones would plead no contest to all four charges at once. By consolidating the charges, Farris thought they'd all be considered a first offense, the judge said at the time.
She decided to consider them separately.
A first offense carries a fine of $50 to $250.
Penalty for a second conviction is a mandatory $500 fine, up to 60 days in jail and makes the sound equipment subject to forfeiture. Third and subsequent convictions mean up to 60 days in jail, mandatory $600 fine and mandatory forfeiture of the sound equipment.
The plea agreement
Farris then worked out a plea agreement where two of the charges would be dismissed, and Jones pleaded no contest to the remaining two. The judge accepted the plea agreement.
Judge Kobly fined Jones $75 on the first conviction. She fined him $500 on his second conviction, gave him 10 days in jail, which she suspended, and placed him on six months' reporting probation.
The city's loud music ordinance was revamped in February 2001, adding a provision that the sound be clearly heard at a distance of 50 feet or more. The revised ordinance also eliminated the mandatory three days in jail for a third offense.
meade@vindy.com