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YPD takes three guns over the weekend
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Police arrested two women Sunday morning on gun and drug charges after officers in a cruiser behind their car could smell marijuana coming from their vehicle.
The arrest was one of three stops over the weekend where officers found weapons.
Reports said officers pulled over a car about 12:15 a.m. at Dryden Avenue and McGuffey Road on the East Side driven by Taqwilla Robinson, 32, because of the marijuana odor and also because she had several air fresheners hanging from her rearview mirror.
Reports said officers asked Robinson and her passenger, Keyoshia Shaw, 23, out of the car because of the marijuana smell, and when Robinson got out, a bag of marijuana was sticking out of her jacket. She also had $600 cash on her, police said.
In her purse, police found an additional $188 in cash, two doses of crack cocaine, a large rock of crack cocaine and 25 pills.
In Shaw’s purse, police found an unloaded .40-caliber handgun, 16 bags of marijuana and 40 pills.
Both women were arrested on drug charges and taken to the Mahoning County jail. Shaw picked up a weapons charge because of the gun, reports said. Reports said Shaw admitted the purse was hers but denied that the gun or drugs belonged to her.
Robinson said the drugs in her purse were for her personal use, reports said.
About 11 p.m. Friday, reports said officers found a .380-caliber handgun in a car that hit a utility pole at Oak and Pearl streets on the East Side.
Reports said the driver of the car, Luis Hernandez, 54, of Hubbard, smelled of alcohol, and when asked by police if he had been drinking, he responded: “Oh, yeah. Everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.” He also told police he was “heading down the street for a few more drinks,” reports said.
Reports said Hernandez told police he had a gun in the car; he was charged with a weapons offense even though he has a concealed-carry permit because under Ohio law, someone cannot have a weapon while they are intoxicated.
Hernandez refused a blood alcohol test at the police station, reports said. He was charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence and using weapons while intoxicated, both misdemeanors. He was arraigned Monday in municipal court and has a pretrial hearing next month.
About 2:40 p.m. Friday, Darrell Merriwether, 30, of Compton Lane, was arrested and charged with improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle after he was pulled over at Market Street and Marion Avenue for not having a front license plate. Reports said a records check found Merriwether has a suspended license and the car he was in also smelled heavily of marijuana.
When police searched the car, they found a .45-caliber handgun and a clip of bullets, reports said.
Reports said Merriwether told police he was in the process of taking classes to get his concealed-carry permit, and he also wondered if he could get the gun back because “it was an expensive gun. I don’t want to give it up.”