2 arrested on gun charges

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Police arrested two people on gun charges Tuesday.

Keith Jones, 31, of Youngstown is in the Mahoning County jail after his arraignment in Youngstown Municipal Court on Wednesday before Magistrate Eugene Fehr on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon and obstructing official business.

Reports said officers George Wallace and Shawna Cie-Ott, members of the department’s Community Police Unit, tried to pull over a car in which Jones was a passenger on Buckeye Court on the East Side about 2:20 p.m. because it had no front license plate. Reports said when the car stopped, Jones jumped out and ran away but was caught. As he was running, he threw a handgun away which police recovered, reports said. Reports said the gun was a 9mm semiautomatic pistol. Police cited the driver, Lamar Armstrong, 29, of Youngstown, for driving under suspension.

About 5:10 p.m., officers George Anderson and Kristina Vaughan pulled over a car at Elm Street and Benita Avenue on the North Side for an improper turn. Reports said the passenger, Jacarr Sims, 26, of Youngstown, has a concealed-carry permit but had a .40-caliber pistol on the floor and a .357-Magnum in his back pocket. His bond was set at $7,500 on a charge of carrying concealed weapons.

Police found 23 bags of suspected marijuana in the car, and charged the driver, Tora Barnette, 26, of Youngstown, with possession of marijuana, issued him a citation for an improper turn and released him.