Cops find gun after car stolen, shots fired

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Police arrested a man Tuesday morning who they said chased a stolen vehicle that belonged to his girlfriend.

Officers took Arquise Miller, 25, of Canfield Road, to the Mahoning County jail about 3:30 a.m. on charges of receiving stolen property and discharging a firearm in city limits. Later Tuesday, the gun charge was upgraded to a felony improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle/discharging a firearm within a vehicle. He arraigned in municipal court Wednesday.

Reports said police were called to a home in the 700 block of Sherwood Avenue to take a stolen vehicle report. While they were on the way they got another 911 call that said the vehicle owner’s boyfriend was chasing the stolen vehicle.

Another call then came in for gunfire in the area and police were told a white vehicle was leaving the scene where the gunfire was.

Police could not find either vehicle so they went to the address where the vehicle was stolen to take a report. When there, they found Miller, who told officers he chased the vehicle on foot but could not catch it. There was a white SUV in the driveway and when police went to look inside, they found three spent shell casings.

Reports said police asked Miller if he had hit anyone when he fired shots and he said no. He said the gun was inside his girlfriend’s home, and she allowed officers inside and to a bedroom, where they found a .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic handgun. Reports said the magazine inside the gun was empty and when police did a records check on the gun’s serial number, they discovered it had been entered as a stolen gun out of Salem.

The gun is the 44th seized by police this year, according to Vindicator files.