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Man says he tests gun because he thinks police won’t show up
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A man who reports said told police he test fired a gun Tuesday near Mill Creek Park because he thought the roads were too bad for officers to respond ended up spending the night in the Mahoning County jail.
Crashawn Hudson, 19, of Chicago Avenue, was arraigned in municipal court Wednesday on misdemeanor charges of carrying a concealed weapon and discharging a firearm within city limits and a felony charge of receiving stolen property.
His bond was set at $5,000 by Visiting Judge Barbara Watson with the provision he only leave his home to attend school. If he is caught going anywhere else, he will be immediately arrested.
Reports said officers Mark Sember, Anthony Trimble and Christopher Rutland were called about 6 p.m. to Parkview Avenue on the South Side after several people called police to report gunfire in the area.
The officers could find no one in the area but they stayed for at least 20 minutes. Reports said they were then approached by a citizen who said they saw several males walking on Princeton Avenue near Glenwood Avenue.
The officers then went to investigate and found two men in dark clothing and stopped to talk them. One of those men was Hudson and both men said they were in the area where the gunfire was reported, reports said.
Reports said the officers could see the butt end of a handgun sticking out of Hudson’s pants and he was searched. The officers found a .357-Magnum revolver on Hudson. The gun was empty but the barrel smelled like it had recently been fired, reports said.
While being questioned by the officers, reports said Hudson told them he had purchased the gun last week for $200 because he needs protection and decided to test fire it in the area around the park Tuesday because he thought with the roads being bad because of Monday’s snowstorm, the police would not show up.
A records check showed the gun was reported stolen out of Union Township in Pennsylvania in March 2013.
Hudson’s lawyer, Tom Zena, argued for a low bond, saying his client has no adult criminal record and all three of the charges come from the same act. Zena said his client also cooperated with police.
“His cooperation, much to the dismay of counsel, was complete,” Zena said.
The gun taken off Hudson is the 25th seized by police and the fifth this month, according to Vindicator files.
Also Tuesday, Jabriael Jones, 22, of Cleveland Street, was arrested on a warrant for violating his probation on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon. Reports said officers were downtown about 8:55 p.m. looking for an assault suspect when they spotted Jones, who fit the description of the suspect and was questioned.
A records check for Jones showed the warrant, reports said. Jones was not the assault suspect. He was also booked into the jail.