43
Raid shocks neighbors
Photo
HOUSE RAIDED: A Boardman police officer talks to people outside 65 Leighton Ave. in the township after officers and members of the U.S. Marshal’s Special Task Force raided the home. Drugs and money were confiscated at the home Thursday morning.
By Jon Moffett
BOARDMAN — Neighbors were shocked as police officers surrounded 65 Leighton Ave. with guns drawn, interrupting what could have been a mundane Thursday morning.
Township police and members of the U.S. Marshal’s Special Task Force confiscated drugs, weapons and money from the home after serving a warrant at about 10:15 a.m.
Joseph Moreland, 27, was arrested on one count of felonious assault and one count of obstructing official business stemming from an earlier scuffle involving Youngstown police officers. He was placed in an unmarked cruiser and taken to the Mahoning County jail.
Sgt. Glen Riddle of the marshal’s task force said police confiscated various quantities of marijuana, heroin, Oxycontin pills “packaged for resale,” a loaded assault rifle and semiautomatic pistol and about $10,000 in cash.
Moreland had been arrested three days earlier after reportedly shoving a Youngstown police officer. He had been arraigned Tuesday on a misdemeanor count of assault on a police officer and one count of obstructing official business.
According to the Youngstown police report, officers followed two males into a residence on Idlewood Avenue in the city after the two had fled from police on a traffic stop.
The officers entered the Youngstown address and called for the two to come downstairs. Moreland came to the top of the stairs and got into an argument, the report said. Moreland then approached an officer and pushed him before being restrained, causing both parties to fall down the stairs.
Moreland posted bond and was placed under house arrest Tuesday.
However, Moreland’s charges were dropped Thursday morning — and replaced with felony counts for the same charges after the Youngstown officers assessed their injuries.
Riddle said Thursday he expected additional charges will also be brought against Moreland, including drug trafficking and possession of drugs.
Neighbors said the Leighton Avenue house had been vacant for about a year, before residents moved in about a month ago. According to the Mahoning County auditor’s Web site, the home is owned by Alan Wolfe of Rogers.
Neighbors said they had witnessed a large amount of activity at the house with people stopping by for only minutes at a time.
One neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous, was particularly shocked. She said she saw people return to the house in a nice pickup truck carrying large tires with chrome rims on a few occasions. She also said she reached out to the residents after they had moved in.
“I took cookies over there the other day to welcome them to the neighborhood,” she said, shaking her head.
She said she was shocked by the morning scene.
“I just looked out the window as I was getting ready to leave today, and I saw a guy running across [the yard] with a rifle.”
A second neighbor, who also requested anonymity, said: “Never has anything like that ever happened here. But I knew [something was not right] with all that traffic.”
Despite suspicions, Riddle said no complaints were made to police about the house or its inhabitants.
“It’s a normal house,” he said. “No activity has been reported here yet, and we’re learning now that there’s been a large amount of traffic, but nothing has been reported to date.”
Riddle said the smell of what appeared to be marijuana was evident when the home’s door was opened.
He also encouraged neighbors to call their local police department about suspicious activity. “Any house that has a lot of traffic at different hours of the day and quick traffic in and out, that’s a pretty good sign there’s something going on in there,” he said.
jmoffett@vindy.com