Man arrested for guns was out on bond on different gun case

YOUNGSTOWN — One of two men arrested Saturday morning after police answered a gunfire call at a Market Street gas station was free on bond after he pleaded guilty to firearms charges for a shooting in March that injured a man in the parking lot of a Belmont Avenue bar.

Lavell Collins, 20, pleaded guilty earlier this month to charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and unlawful transactions of firearms. In exchange for his plea he was offered a sentence of cooperation if he cooperated against two other defendants in the case, court records show.

Collins is expected to be arraigned later in municipal court on firearms charges relating to his arrest Saturday.

Collins and another man, Damon Banks Lopez, 21, were arrested following a foot chase by officers about 9 a.m. Saturday near a 3200 Market St. gas station. Police found an AK-47 pistol and a .223-caliber semiautomatic rifle, similar to an AR-15 rifle.

Collins is also a suspect after a house was shot up about 6:15 a.m. Saturday on East Evergreen Avenue. Reports said the home had 11 bullet holes and police found several 7.62mm shell casings outside the home, the same type of ammunition used in the AK-47. Reports said a witness saw Collins leaning out of a car and firing at the home.

No one was injured in the home but reports said there were several young children in the home at the time.