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Man fires shots after argument over lawn mower
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Bond was set Friday in municipal court at $5,000 for a man accused of firing shots and holding a gun to a man’s head in an argument that started over a stolen lawn mower.
Robert Jones, 63, of Olivette Court, was arraigned before Magistrate Anthony Sertick on charges of felonious assault, being a felon in possession of a firearm and carrying a concealed weapon after he was arrested about 2:45 p.m. in the 600 block of Lakewood Avenue on the South Side.
Police were called to the street for a report of a man arguing with two men and holding a gun to the head of one of them who was on the ground after firing several shots. Detective Sgt. Ed Kenney was the first to arrive on the scene and ordered all three men on the ground at gunpoint.
One of the men told Kenney that Jones had a gun, and when other officers arrived, they searched Jones and found a loaded .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver and several rounds of ammunition in a Crown Royal bag.
The men said the argument between Jones and the man on the ground began earlier in the day at a Market Street gas station, and Jones told the man, “You’re a dead man walking,” reports said.
Reports said when Jones found the victim and another man later, he pulled a gun and fired four shots as the men both pleaded for their lives.
Jones was booked into the Mahoning County jail on charges of felonious assault, carrying concealed weapons, being a felon in possession of a firearm and illegal conveyance of drugs into a detention facility after corrections officers at the jail found a bag of marijuana in his pants when he was being booked.
Reports said Jones has a prior conviction in Pennsylvania on drug charges, which prohibits him from having a firearm.