Youngstown police find gun, suspected drugs after traffic citation

YOUNGSTOWN — Police found a loaded 9mm handgun and 10 small bags of suspected marijuana in a car as they went to write up the driver for a parking citation Wednesday.

Reports said officers working a Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority patrol spotted a car driven by John Tufino, 21, of Youngstown, park illegally in front of a home in the 1500 block of Woodcrest Avenue on the East Side about 5:40 p.m.

When they went to check with the driver, they discovered he had no license and the plates on the car were registered to another vehicle, reports said.

When officers asked for the car’s title, a woman who was a passenger opened the trunk and the officers could smell marijuana, reports said. They then saw the gun underneath the driver’s seat, reports said.

Tufino was taken to the Mahoning County jail and booked on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, being a felon in possession of a firearm, resisting arrest and possession of drugs/marijuana. He is expected to be arraigned Friday in municipal court.