Chase leads Boardman police to find 19.1 grams of crack cocaine

Staff report

BOARDMAN

A police chase that started in the township and continued through Youngstown’s South Side led police to seize 19.1 grams of suspected crack cocaine.

The chase began shortly after 11:15 p.m. Wednesday after a township police officer attempted to stop Jamal Wingo, 35, of Gluck Street on Market Street just north of Midlothian Boulevard for driving with fictitious registration information and no rear license plate information.

The attempted traffic stop set off a chase down Judson, Firnley and Hylda avenues. During the chase, which the officer said lasted two minutes and 12 seconds, the officer reportedly saw Wingo throwing items out of the white GMC pickup truck’s window along the way.

As the officer pursued Wingo down Judson, he reportedly observed “multiple people on the front porches and on the driveways of the homes” who “appeared to be cheering Wingo on as he fled the traffic stop.”

At one point, Wingo jumped out of his vehicle while it was still moving and fled on foot. The unoccupied truck smashed into a utility pole on Hylda. The officer caught Wingo after a foot chase. The officer reportedly deployed a stun gun to subdue Wingo.

Numerous township and Youngstown police officers arrived on scene to assist. Besides a cellphone from which the SIM card had been removed, police did not find any items along the path of the chase. They did, however, report finding contraband in Wingo’s vehicle, including 19.1 grams of suspected crack cocaine, a foil bindle containing a “grayish granular substance,” and marijuana.

Police also seized several cell phones, suboxone (a prescription medication used to treat opioid addiction), and $61 in cash.

In addition to numerous traffic citations, Wingo faces two charges of drug possession, and one count each of tampering with evidence, failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, resisting arrest, obstructing official business and minor misdemeanor drug possession for the marijuana.

Wingo reportedly admitted to police that the white rocks they found was crack cocaine.

When asked what he had thrown out of his window, he reportedly said: “I didn’t throw out anything. I would have thrown out the bag of crack you found if that’s the case.”

The police report notes that Wingo currently is on federal probation and has “multiple drug convictions.”