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City refers gun cases to feds
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
City prosecutors said they have referred the cases of two men arraigned in municipal court on gun charges to federal authorities.
Vernon Johnson, 23, of East Philadelphia Avenue, is having his case referred because he has multiple convictions that prohibit him from owning a gun and he was caught Saturday on Potomac Avenue on the South Side with a 9 mm handgun that had a 30-round magazine.
City Prosecutor Dana Lantz said the extended magazine is considered an unlawful ordnance under federal law.
He is in the Mahoning County jail on a $30,000 bond after his arraignment Monday on charges of possession of drugs, obstructing official business and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Devon Talley, 24, of Falls Avenue, is having his case forwarded to the federal jurisdiction because he also has several convictions that bar him from owning a firearm. He was caught with a gun and bulletproof vest Friday at the Western Reserve Transit Authority bus station on West Federal Street downtown.
Lantz said Talley is also wanted on a warrant for a chase police said he led them on Oct. 30 in a stolen car, that he crashed. Police found a gun in that car also, Lantz said.
Talley’s bond is set at $150,000 for the arrest Friday on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of drugs and for the chase.
Lantz pointed out police say Talley, who is not allowed to have access to guns, had two different guns – the one found in the car and the one he was caught with Friday.
“What we have here is someone who runs from the police with a gun on more than one occasion,” Lantz said.
“I think we’re going back to the wild, wild West,” added Visiting Judge Dino Prassinos.
On Saturday, reports said police were called about 4:25 p.m. to the 200 block of Potomac, where a woman there told them Johnson had pulled a gun on her and threatened her.
Officers spotted Johnson, but he ran from police through several yards before he was caught behind a nearby home.
Reports said police found two pills on Johnson and a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun with an extended magazine and a laser sight.
Johnson is expected to plead guilty Nov. 21 in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on charges stemming from a foot chase in June where he swallowed seven Xanax, reports said. He was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm after shots were fired March 31, 2016, at a Brownlee Woods church on the South Side during a funeral service for a homicide victim. That charge was later dismissed, however, according to court records. No explanation was given.
On Friday, a city police officer working security at the WRTA station recognized Talley, knew there was a warrant for his arrest and approached him.
Reports said Talley was wearing a bulletproof vest and told police he had a gun underneath the vest. Police found a loaded 9 mm Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol, reports said.