'People get robbed and shot all the time' says man found with drugs, gun

YOUNGSTOWN — Reports said police Monday found a loaded 9mm handgun in a car they pulled over about 7:50 p.m. for running a stop sign at Gibson and East Florida avenues.

The driver of the car, Dehaven Scurry, 49, of Verona Drive, told police he has a suspended license and a records check found he has two warrants so he was taken out of the car and put into custody.

Reports said he told officers he had a gun under the back seat that belonged to his girlfriend.

Officers checked and found the gun and inside a bag in a trunk they found 51 pills, a rock of crack cocaine, two bags of marijuana and a marijuana grinder. Inside Scurry’s shirt pocket was $703 cash, reports said.

After he was placed in a cruiser, Scurry began having a seizure and paramedics were called, reports said. After he was treated, reports said he told police he had the gun because “This is Youngstown, Ohio, and people get robbed and shot all the time. Rather be caught with it than without it.”

Scurry was charged with improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, trafficking in marijuana, possession of drugs, being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of cocaine and driving under suspension.

He was booked into the Mahoning County jail.