Pair arrested after leaving jail

May 5, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Just minutes after picking up an inmate Tuesday at the Mahoning County jail, police said Devin Towns and Alexis Evans went back. But not of their own free will.

Towns, 40, and Evans, 27, went back as inmates after they were pulled over just blocks away for an expired registration. Officers found five bindles of suspected heroin, 11 rocks of suspected crack cocaine and a 9mm semiautomatic pistol with 14 rounds in the magazine.

Reports said Evans, of West Ravenwood Avenue, was driving the car that was pulled over about 3 p.m. at East Front and Walnut streets. Reports said Towns, of Lakewood Circle, was a passenger in the back seat, and an inmate who was released from that jail earlier in the day also was in the car.

Reports said officers smelled a heavy odor of marijuana coming from the car, but Evans and Towns both denied having marijuana in the car or smoking it. Towns would not take his hands out of his pockets several times even after police ordered him to, and when he finally did, officers found $894 in cash, reports said.

When Towns unclenched his fist, he had 11 bags of suspected crack cocaine inside, reports said. He was then taken into custody.

Evans gave police permission to search the car, and inside they found five doses of suspected heroin and the gun, which was underneath the driver’s seat, reports said. They also found 12 pills, and Evans had a bag of crack cocaine in her bra, reports said.

Evans and Towns were then taken to the Mahoning County jail. When Towns was booked, corrections officers found six more bags of suspectedcrack cocaine in his clothes, reports said.

The inmate who had been released was let go by police at the scene.

Evans was arraigned in municipal court on charges of possession of heroin, possession of crack cocaine, possession of drugs and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle. Judge Elizabeth Kobly set her bond at $13,500.

Bond for Towns was set at $45,000 on charges of possession of crack cocaine and illegal conveyance of prohibited items into a detention facility. Assistant City Prosecutor Kathy Thompson told Judge Kobly that Towns has two pending felony drug cases in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, one being a felony level one case, which is the highest-level felony in Ohio.

In February, Towns was pulled over for having no rearview mirror on his car. Police found 30 bags of suspected crack cocaine and 73 pills in his car and $564 cash. He also was wanted on a warrant for skipping a June court appearance resulting from an arrest in September 2014, when police found 10 bags of suspected crack cocaine on him and $890 cash.

The gun seized Tuesday by police is the 49th seized so far this year and the fifth this week, according to Vindicator files.