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Man awaiting sentencing for five robberies arrested over weekend
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A man awaiting sentencing for five armed robberies is in the Mahoning County jail on $100,000 bond after being arrested over the weekend on weapons charges.
Jarel Gadson, 21, of Alameda Avenue, was arraigned Monday in municipal court before Judge Elizabeth Kobly on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of cocaine and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle.
Gadson was arrested about 5:45 p.m. Saturday along with Kayvon Fields, 22, of Crandall Avenue, after a car Gadson was driving was pulled over at Market Street and East Woodland Avenue for an illegal lane change.
Reports said when police found out Gadson has a suspended license, he was taken into custody. When police looked inside the car, they saw a gun inside the center console of the car.
Police searched the car and found two guns, a loaded 9 mm semiautomatic handgun and a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun which a records check showed was stolen in June 2015 from Hubbard. When Gadson was searched police also found three pills and six rocks of suspected crack cocaine in a bag he had in his clothes, reports said.
Fields is not allowed to have a gun because of a prior felony conviction, while Gadson is not allowed to have a gun because of his upcoming Jan. 6 sentencing on five counts of aggravated robbery with a firearm specification.
Fields also faces charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle. His bond was also set at $500,000.
Gadson is a suspect in a series of robberies of Youngstown State University students near campus in August 2015, as well as the robbery of a man who went to a Tyrell Avenue apartment complex Aug. 25, 2015, to meet someone he made an arrangement with to sell a pair of shoes. He was arrested by police Aug. 28, 2015.
Court records from common pleas court show Gadson is on his third court-appointed lawyer in that case and pleaded guilty Sept. 22 to the charges. Prosecutors are recommending four years in prison. He is set to be sentenced Jan. 6 by Judge John Durkin.
Gadson’s bond was modified to $125,000 Oct. 20, 2015, according to court records, down from the $500,000 bond that was set for him at his arraignment in municipal court.