Cops find 20 used needles in car

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Reports said a man arrested Sunday afternoon after state troopers found 20 used needles in his car said he once spent $400 to $500 a day on heroin.

Jonathan Mangas, 35, of Gault Road in North Jackson, was arraigned in municipal court Tuesday before Judge Elizabeth Kobly on charges of possession of heroin, possession of drug-abuse instruments and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Judge Kobly set his bond at $7,500.

Reports said an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper pulled over a car Mangas was driving about 5:55 p.m. Sunday on Meridan Road near Oakwood Avenue for no front license plate, and Mangas also was not wearing a seat belt.

Reports said Mangas appeared very nervous. When he was asked to step out of his car, he had a cellphone in his hand, and when he threw the phone back into the car, a suboxone strip that was in the same hand also flew onto the seat.

Reports said when Mangas was asked if he had anything in the car the trooper should be aware of, he told the trooper he had a backpack with several used needles inside. In the backpack the trooper found 20 needles, including one that was broken off and still had a brown liquid inside. Reports said Mangas told the trooper the needle broke when he was trying to take heroin, and he was never able to take all of it.

Also in the backpack was a spoon and three individual doses of heroin, reports said. Reports said Mangas told the trooper he has been a heroin addict for about 15 years and at one point was spending $400 to $500 a day to get his fix. Reports said he also told the trooper he had not taken any heroin recently. The report noted how cooperative Mangas was.