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Vice, CPU patrols net gun, drugs, two arrests
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Members of the police department’s vice squad and Community Police Unit teamed up for a series of patrols Tuesday that netted a handgun, almost 100 pills, more than $300 in cash and two arrests.
It is not the first time the two units have teamed up for patrols in specific neighborhoods, which was one of the goals when the CPU was established last summer by police Chief Robin Lees.
The gun and 48 pills, a large bag of suspected crack cocaine, and $319 cash were taken when Robin Briggs, 28, of Youngstown, was arrested on two warrants. He also faces as charges of improperly handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of cocaine, two counts of possession of drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Reports said a car Briggs was driving about 3:30 p.m. was pulled over at a gas station in the 1700 block of Logan Avenue for running a stop sign. Briggs told CPU officers Melvin Johnson and Shakir Perkins and vice squad officer Mike Quinn that he had no driver’s license, and when asked if he had anything illegal, gave them a bottle of pills.
When he got out of the car to be taken into custody, police learned he had several open suspensions on his license and two warrants from municipal court. When police searched the car, they found a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol, and when Briggs was searched, one of the officers felt a large bulge in his underwear.
Reports said Briggs told the officers it was crack cocaine, and one of his hands was uncuffed so he could reach into his underwear and pull a bag out of his pants. A passenger in Briggs’ car was released.
Magistrate Anthony Sertick set Briggs’ bond at $85,000 when he was arraigned in municipal court Wednesday. Sertick said he found it strange that Briggs had such a large amount of cash on him after Briggs asked for a court-appointed lawyer and admitted having no assets.
“How does a guy who has no assets whatsoever have $319 cash in his pockets? Doesn’t that seem unusual, Mr. Briggs?”
“Yes,” Briggs answered. He was appointed a lawyer for his felony cases.
The gun taken is the 21st firearm seized by police this year and the first for this month.
Earlier, about 1:25 p.m., vice and CPU officers pulled over a car driven by Joseph McGraw, 34, of Woodside Avenue, for an improper turn. Reports said the car pulled into a drive in the first block of North Forest Avenue, and when the car stopped, McGraw got out of the car, threw two pieces of paper on the ground and put his hands up.
Reports said there was suspected heroin inside the pieces of paper and a bag of suspected marijuana on the front seat of the car. McGraw was taken to the Mahoning County jail on charges of possession of marijuana and possession of heroin. His bond was set at $5,000 by Sertick.
Vice and CPU officers also cited Tyrese Duck, 25, of Cleveland Heights, after he was pulled over about 2:05 p.m. at Elm Street and Roslyn Drive for an illegal turn. He told police he had no driver’s license. When police searched the car before towing it, they found a bottle with 50 pills where Duck was sitting. He was released on summons and given a court date.
A passenger, Jermaine Tubbs, 25, of Lincoln Park Drive, was taken into custody on a warrant.
Also arrested on a felony drug charge Tuesday was Loretta Stanford, 47, of Hubbard, who was a passenger in a truck pulled over about 10:45 a.m. by officer George Anderson after it made an illegal turn while leaving what Anderson termed “a known drug house” at Ohio and Dennick Avenues. Reports said there were several pieces of ground-up suspected crack cocaine on the seat where Stanford was sitting. She was booked into the jail on a charge of possession of cocaine. Her bond was set at $5,000.