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Police hunt for man after E. Side gunfire
Photo
Ray
YOUNGSTOWN
City police searched the wooded areas and side streets of the East Side for a 50-year-old man who disrupted the quiet of his Browning Avenue neighborhood with indiscriminate gunfire Wednesday morning.
Jeannette Hughes, a neighbor in the area of Browning and Stocker avenues on the East Side, said gunfire was heard throughout the neighborhood at 5 a.m., prompting her and several other neighbors to call 911.
Police arrived to see a man firing a weapon and then retreating into a Browning home.
Police would not identify the man, but several neighbors say he is Dennis Ray, 50, the boyfriend of a woman who owns a home on Browning.
Police from Youngstown, the SWAT team, Canfield, Boardman and Youngstown State University — along with the Youngstown Fire Department and Rural Metro — surrounded the house.
The incident turned into a five-hour standoff situation Wednesday morning with officers in full riot gear.
Lt. John Kelty of the Youngstown Police Department said police attempted to negotiate with Ray, but when that did not work, officers fired tear gas into the house. He said police eventually entered the home and searched for Ray, but learned he was no longer there.
Police extended the search for Ray throughout the East Side and other parts of the city. Police said Ray should be considered armed and dangerous.
Officers responded to numerous tips about Ray’s location for most of the day. Tipsters phoned in sightings of Ray on the East and South sides.
Kelty said Ray does have an extensive criminal history and mental-health issues.
“I would consider him dangerous at this point. ... He could be walking the streets with at least some kind of weapon,” he said.
Hughes said the neighborhood is usually very quiet with minimal problems — mostly caused by Ray. She said Ray attempted to burn his house this past summer.
“This is a nice neighborhood, very nice,” she said. “This is just crazy.”
Vindicator files show that in August police accused Ray of lighting his Browning house on fire while his girlfriend was in it. Reports state police found the carpet and bathroom walls had burn marks and smoke upstairs, where they found Ray and charged him with aggravated arson and domestic violence.
A Mahoning County grand jury indicted Ray last month on charges of criminal damaging or endangering.
Ray, according to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court files, was found guilty of breaking and entering in 2009 and sentenced to 11 months in prison. He also was convicted of receiving stolen property in 2008 and sentenced to one year in prison.
County records show Ray was convicted of attempted theft and possession of criminal tools in 2006. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail on those charges.
Youngstown Municipal Court records show that Ray has faced a slew of charges in that jurisdiction including multiple counts of theft, possession of drug paraphernalia, burglary, resisting arrest and domestic violence. Those charges date back to 2006.