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Suspects arraigned in ‘messy’ drug arrests
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
You can say two drug arrests in separate incidents over the weekend were messy for police, as defendants tore open bags of drugs, and in one case ate a rock of suspected crack cocaine.
Reports said police could smell marijuana Sunday coming from a car driving in front of them before pulling it over for an improper turn.
Jaquale Gilmore, 20, of East Boston Avenue was arrested on drug and traffic charges, and Marquise Hornbuckle, 23, of West Evergreen Avenue, was also arrested on drug charges.
Officers pulled the car over about 7:35 p.m. in the 200 block of East Boston Avenue on the South Side for an improper turn and could smell the marijuana coming from the car before it stopped. Both men told police they had been smoking marijuana, reports said.
Reports said Hornbuckle had a bag of suspected heroin, eight pills and $1,203 cash. Gilmore, who was the driver, had three pills and $405 cash. Reports said there was a ripped open bag of suspected heroin underneath Gilmore’s shoe and brown powder smeared all over the center console of the car. The powder was tested and later determined to be fentanyl, a synthetic opioid.
Hornbuckle was arraigned on felony five counts of possession of heroin and possession of drugs. His bond was set at $7,500 Monday during his arraignment in municipal court by Judge Elizabeth Kobly.
Gilmore was arraigned on a felony charge of possession of heroin and another felony charge of possession of drugs for the pills he had, as well as a first-degree misdemeanor tampering with evidence charge. His bond was set at $55,000.
Reports said a man arrested by police Friday at Willis and Rosedale avenues on the South Side ate a rock of suspected crack cocaine and smeared a brown powder all over himself which was later determined to be fentanyl.
William Cupan, 36, of Youngstown, is expected to be arraigned in municipal court today on several drug and tampering-with-evidence charges.
Reports said officers were called about 8:45 p.m. for a report of a man running around a city house and found Cupan, who changed his story several times. He was taken into custody when police round a crack pipe on him.
At the Mahoning County jail, reports said officers found white powder and crumbs all over the back of the cruiser, and Cupan told him he ate a rock of crack cocaine while he was talking to police and managed to hide it in between his teeth.
When police tried to clean the car, they noticed Cupan tapping his feet and found a bag of suspected heroin under the sole of his shoe that was torn. Reports said he had brown powder all over him. When he was searched, police found another bag of fentanyl in his clothes.
Judge Kobly gave Cupan a $65,000 bond on charges of possession of fentanyl, tampering with evidence and illegal conveyance of prohibited items into a detention facility, and possession of cocaine.