43
Gun found on man in store
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Police found a loaded gun Wednesday on a man in an East Side store after being alerted by someone wanting to report suspicious activity.
Donni Feagin, 32, of Youngstown, was taken to the Mahoning County jail on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of marijuana. He is expected to be arraigned in municipal court today.
Reports said officer Nick Bailey and his police dog were on patrol about 3:15 p.m. on McGuffey Road near Jacobs Road when Bailey was flagged down and told that there was a person in the nearby Dollar General on McGuffey Road who appeared to be lurking in the store.
Bailey went into the store, and a clerk inclined his head toward the man, who later was identified as Feagin, reports said. Reports said when Bailey went to talk to Feagin, Feagin turned around like he was trying to shield part of his body. Bailey searched him and found a .22-caliber revolver loaded with seven rounds, reports said.
Feagin also had a bag of suspected marijuana, reports said.
Before he was patted down, reports said Feagin told Bailey he had AIDS, and after he was searched, reports said Feagin told the officer: “You are ruining my life right now. I have AIDS. Someone is trying to kill me, so I need that gun.”
Reports said the store has been robbed recently.
The employee told Bailey that Feagin had been in the store for 45 minutes collecting snack foods to buy. He then purchased some but asked for a refund, the clerk said in reports.
Reports said it appeared that Feagin may have been waiting for the right time to rob the store.
Feagin is not allowed to own a gun because he is on probation after pleading guilty to reckless homicide for shooting and killing his 49-year-old stepfather, John Bowers, on July 28, 2005, in a home in the 200 block of Hilton Avenue.
Reports said Bowers was shot after Feagin came home and found Bowers abusing his mother.
Reports said Feagin pulled a gun he had because he was threatened after kicking some drug dealers who were friends with his mother out of the home to stop Bowers, but Bowers came at him and Feagin fired.
At the time of his sentencing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, Feagin’s attitude was called “unbelievably refreshing,” by Judge R. Scott Krichbaum.
According to court records, this is the first time Feagin has been in trouble since he was placed on probation.