Minor traffic offenses turn into felony arrests

May 11, 2017 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Two men pulled over in separate traffic stops Tuesday involving license-plate infractions, which typically carry penalties of fines, ended up going to jail on felony charges.

Jesse Stewart, 18, was arraigned Wednesday in municipal court on charges of illegal conveyance of drugs into a detention facility, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana and a warrant for driving under suspension. Magistrate Anthony Sertick set his bond at $7,500.

Reports said Stewart was pulled over about 7:05 p.m. in the 200 block of East Judson Avenue on the South Side for not having a license-plate sticker. Reports said he told police he did not have a driver’s license and his car also smelled of marijuana.

A records check found Stewart has a warrant for driving under suspension, and he was taken into custody. As he was searched before he was taken to the Mahoning County jail, reports said officers told Stewart if he was hiding anything on him, he would be facing felony charges for bringing drugs into the jail.

At the jail, Stewart told corrections officers he had hidden marijuana in his buttocks, reports said. After Stewart had changed his clothes, corrections officers found five bags of suspected cocaine, five pills and a bag of suspected marijuana.

Earlier in the day, about 4:05 p.m., a man was arrested on felony weapons charges after officers found a loaded handgun in a car he was driving that was pulled over for not having a front license plate.

Tyrian Julious, 23, of Rush Boulevard, was arraigned before Magistrate Sertick on charges of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle and being a felon in possession of a firearm. His bond was set at $30,000.

Reports said officers could also smell marijuana coming from the car Julious was driving, and Julious agreed to allow officers search him, saying he was just smoking marijuana.

But before they could search, Julious uttered that someone he knows left a gun in the glove compartment, reports said.

Assistant Prosecutor Jeffrey Moliterno said Julious had arrests as a juvenile for illegal conveyance of a weapon onto school grounds and aggravated robbery. He was convicted of the robbery charge, which bars him from having a gun.