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Cops find gun, heroin, during fight call
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A man who has served prison sentences for 17 of the past 20 years was arrested at a North Side store Wednesday afternoon after police said they found a loaded gun and heroin in his SUV.
Lawrence Johnson, 51, of Belmont Avenue, is in the Mahoning County jail on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, improper handling of firearms in a motor vehicle and possession of heroin. He is expected to be arraigned in municipal court today.
Reports said police were called about 5 p.m. for a report of a fight at a 718 Belmont Ave. store, and when they arrived, they found Johnson, who fit the description of one of the people who were supposed to be involved in the fight, standing outside talking to the store owner.
Reports said there was an SUV in the parking lot with the driver’s door open and the keys in the ignition, and when police went to check it, Johnson ran toward the vehicle and tried to get to the door. Johnson denied the SUV was his, reports said.
On the front seat police found a loaded 9 mm handgun. Inside, police also found mail addressed to Johnson, a cellphone, police scanner and 11 individual doses of heroin, reports said.
Johnson was arrested and taken to the jail.
Reports noted the owner of the store refused to provide a statement about what happened.
Court records from Trumbull County Common Pleas Court show Johnson was sentenced to seven years in prison in November 1997 after being convicted of a 2005 robbery in a jury trial.
Records from that case do not show when he was released, but he was arrested again in September 2004 by Liberty police after he was accused of robbing a gas station with another man.
Reports at the time said Johnson was in a car that was described as being involved in the robbery and the car drove through a police DUI checkpoint at Belmont and Trumbull avenues.
The car they were in led police on a chase before it hit a pole at Logan and Liberty avenues. Johnson was arrested in the car and the other man was caught by Youngstown police after he ran away toward the city’s North Side.
In that case, Johnson pleaded guilty to charges of complicity to commit aggravated robbery with firearm and repeat violent offender specifications and improper handling of firearms in a motor vehicle. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Judge W. Wyatt McKay.
Court records show Johnson was released from prison on Sept. 6, 2014.