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Houser given 35k bond for drug, weapons charges
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
For the fourth time since he was spared a possible death sentence, Jamar Houser has been arrested.
Houser, 25, of West Delason Avenue, was arraigned in municipal court Monday on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon, possession of heroin and possession of cocaine. Magistrate Anthony Sertick set his bond at $35,000.
He was arrested about 8:30 p.m. Saturday during a traffic stop on the South Side after a car he was a passenger in was pulled over for running a red light. Reports said officers were granted permission to search the car, and when they did, they found a handgun hidden under a cup holder and some ammuniton nearby, as well as seven bags of suspected crack cocaine and four bags of suspected heroin.
Houser had been charged in the Jan. 23, 2010, death of Angeline Fimognari, 80, of Sheridan Road, in the parking lot of St. Dominic Church on the South Side, and could have faced the death penalty if convicted. In May 2012, however, those charges were dropped after a palm print found at the crime scene was matched to another person, who had been shot and killed after Fimognari’s slaying.
Houser was released from the Mahoning County jail in 2012 after the new evidence was discovered. He was awaiting trial in common pleas court when he was released.
Houser had misdemeanor arrests in April and September of 2014 involving aggravated menacing and domestic violence, respectively.
Houser was charged with a felony after he was arrested in July 2014 in the 3000 block of Hudson Avenue after police were called to the South Side to investigate a report that Houser was firing shots at someone from a car. A handgun was found in the driver’s seat of the car Houser was driving, reports said. He was sentenced to nine months in prison in April 2015 in that case, court records show. He could face a probation violation in that case for his latest arrest.