Youngstown man faces drug charges after arrest on East Side

YOUNGSTOWN — Police arrested a man released from prison June 25 after serving a two-year sentence on weapons charges after a short foot chase on the East Side.

Jason Harmon, 27, of Verona Avenue, is in the Mahoning County jail on charges of possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and obstructing official business. He is expected to be arraigned Friday in municipal court.

Reports said officers spotted Harmon about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday in a car that may have belonged to someone wanted on several warrants. Police tried to pull the car over in the 300 block of Kendis Circle for an illegal turn, reports said.

Harmon, the driver, pulled into a drive then ran into an apartment building and was taken to the ground by police. He had a digital scale, a bag of suspected crack cocaine and a bag of suspected marijuana, reports said.

In May 2016, police arrested Harmon as a suspect in two separate shootings on the East Side where no one was injured. He was sentenced to three years in prison in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, and prosecutors recommended he serve at least two years of his sentence before he was granted judicial release.

In September 2017, he filed a motion for early release but that was overruled. He filed a similar motion in April and that motion was granted June 25.