Caps arrest two men after dozens of shots fired

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Police found almost 40 empty shell casings and a 9 mm handgun after reports said a man was arrested for firing several shots near a large crowd early Sunday in the Uptown section of the South Side.

Reports said officers were on patrol in the Uptown area about 2 a.m. because there was a large crowd on the streets.

While there, officers heard a series of about 50 gunshots coming from the first block of West Hylda Avenue, reports said.

Members of the crowd began running and screaming as officers converged on the gunfire.

Officers found a man, later identified as Charles Pete Jr., 20, of Saranac Avenue, shooting a gun in front of a home.

Another man was inside a car Pete was standing next to, reports said.

Reports said Pete was ordered at gunpoint to put his hands up but before he did he ducked down, threw a gun through an open window of the car and then popped up with his hands up.

The driver of the car, 28-year-old Victor Nixon of Tod Lane, threw a plastic bag out of the car which had three smaller bags of heroin inside, reports said.

Nixon was also arrested.

Police found 17 9 mm shell casings and 17 .40-caliber shell casings in the area around the house and an additional two 9 mm and .22-caliber shell casings a little further away, reports said.

The gun was found in the car with a loaded magazine and an empty 30-round magazine next to it.

Pete was arraigned in municipal court Monday on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and aggravated riot.

His bond was set at $25,000 by Judge Robert Milich.

Nixon was arraigned on two felony charges of possession of drugs, one a fifth-degree felony and one a fourth-degree felony.

His bond was set at $20,000.

Police searched for victims but found none.

Police from Struthers, Boardman, Austintown, Mill Creek Park, Youngstown State University and the Ohio State Highway Patrol were all on the scene.