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Cops find gun, pot, on man after chase
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Police found a gun and six bags of marijuana Monday morning on a man they say was a passenger in a stolen van.
Edward Morris, 18, of Marmion Avenue, is in the Mahoning County jail on $25,000 bond after his arraignment in municipal court before Magistrate Eugene Fehr on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, a fourth-degree felony and trafficking in marijuana, a fifth-degree felony.
Reports said Morris was a passenger in a stolen van that was spotted by officer Stephen Gaetano while he was on patrol in the 3200 block of Market Street just before 2 a.m. Monday.
Gaetano did a check on the van’s license plates, and records showed the van was recently stolen, reports said.
He tried to pull the van over but instead it drove away and would not stop until it got stuck on the railroad tracks at East Judson Avenue and Southern Boulevard while trying to make a right turn.
Morris and the driver ran away on foot.
Officers Tim Edwards and Kenneth Garling managed to catch Morris, and he was put in the back of a cruiser while Boardman police, state troopers and a police dog from Austintown were brought in to look for the driver. The driver could not be found.
Reports said that while Morris was in the car, he could be seen squirming in his handcuffs.
Reports said officers then went to check on Morris and they could smell marijuana on him.
When he was searched, police found six bags of marijuana on him, reports said.
Inside the van, police found a Glock .380-caliber that was not loaded. However, police did find several bullets in the squad car Morris was in while police looked for the van’s driver.
A records check of the gun showed it was stolen Oct. 13 in Youngstown.
Reports also said Morris refused to cooperate and would not give officers any information when they made a separate report on the gun they recovered.
Assistant City Prosecutor Jeffrey Moliterno asked for a high bond because Morris tried to run from police and also because he had a weapon.
He had a previous arrest in August for burglary and aggravated menacing, Moliterno said, but he did not have a disposition on the case.
In that case, Morris was arrested after a police dog dragged him out of a home by his buttocks in the 700 block of Jean Street.
Reports then said he was identified by witnesses as police were investigating a call about a person with a gun on Plum Street. He ran from police but was tracked to the Jean Street home by the dog. When he refused to come out, the dog went in and got him, reports said.