Cops find 23 bags of pot on man at bus station

April 7, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Police say being banned from the Western Reserve Transit Authority station downtown did not deter Nathaniel Cheatham.

Cheatham, 25, of Oak Hill Avenue, was arrested on charges of trafficking in drugs and resisting arrest about 5:15 p.m. Tuesday at the 340 W. Federal St. station with 23 bags of suspected marijuana on him, reports said.

Reports said Cheatham was issued a criminal-trespass warning at the station Saturday and also had several bags of suspected marijuana at that time packaged to be sold.

He was arraigned in municipal court Wednesday before Magistrate Anthony Sertick, who set his bond at $14,000.

Police were called to the station by a security guard who had Cheatham in custody on the trespass warning, but the guard was not able to search him. Reports said Cheatham had a hand in his jacket pocket and would not take it out of his jacket. When an officer tried to pull his hand out of the pocket, Cheatham pushed against the officer with his body until he was taken to the ground.

Reports said when Cheatham was on the ground, two plastic bags fell out of the pocket onto the floor, and there were smaller plastic bags inside. Officers counted 23 bags of suspected marijuana, all prepared as if to be sold.

Cheatham is on probation in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for a drug-trafficking charge and has a previous conviction for resisting arrest.

Police also took two men into custody on felony drug charges about 4:55 p.m. Tuesday after a traffic stop on East Dewey Avenue near Poland Avenue. Vice-squad officers pulled over a car driven by Joshua Williams, 30, of Chalmers Avenue, for an improper turn. When they walked up to the car, they could see a spoon with suspected heroin residue on the floor of the car where Williams was sitting, the report said.

Williams was taken out of the car to be handcuffed and a back-seat passenger, Cory Dodd-Baumgartner, 27, of Crandall Avenue, was ordered to take his hands out of his pockets. Dodd-Baumgartner was searched, and police found a dose of suspected heroin on him. He was arrested on a charge of possession of heroin. His bond was set at $5,000.

Williams was searched and police found a dose of suspected crack cocaine. He was arrested on charges of possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Sertick said because of Williams’ extensive criminal record, his bond was set at $12,500.