City man arrested on drug charges

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — Police arrested a man Friday after finding 34 bags of suspected crack cocaine in his possession.

Marcellus Wilkins, 22, of Youngstown, was charged with trafficking in drugs and having drug paraphernalia, according to a city police report.

Police said that while on routine patrol, officers saw Wilkins loading items into a sport-utility vehicle in front of a home on East Avondale Avenue.

One of the items was a black box that looked like a safe, police said.

When the SUV pulled out of the driveway, police noticed it had a cracked windshield and followed.

The SUV ran a stop sign at Avondale Avenue and Erie Street, and officers pulled it over, the report says.

Wilkins was in the passenger seat. The SUV was being driven by a juvenile who told police they could search the vehicle, the report says.

Police found the suspected crack, several rocks in 34 individual plastic bags, in the safe, the report says. Wilkins told police that he was moving out of his girlfriend’s house, but he did not admit to knowing about the drug, the report says.

Among other items in the safe were a box of sandwich bags and two cell phones, the report says.

Wilkins was taken to Mahoning County Jail. The juvenile was cited for the cracked windshield and for running the stop sign.