Suspect given 35K bond at arraignment

By JOE GORMAN

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

One of two men arrested Saturday morning after police answered a gunfire call at a Market Street gas station had been free on bond.

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Lavell Collins

Lavell Collins, 20, bonded out in September in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court after pleading guilty to firearms charges for a shooting in March that injured a man in the parking lot of a Belmont Avenue bar.

Collins pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and unlawful transactions of firearms. In exchange for his plea he was offered a sentence of probation — 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. 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.

Collins was arraigned Monday in municipal court on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and discharging a firearm at or into habitation. Magistrate Anthony Sertick set his bond at $35,000.

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Damon Banks Lopez

Banks Lopez was also arraigned on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle. Magistrate Sertick set his bond at $25,000.

Collins was arrested on a warrant in the bar shooting case and given a $45,000 bond when he was arraigned in municipal court. After the case was bound over to a grand jury, he was given a recognizance bond Sept. 28, court records show.

There is still one more suspect in that case whose charges have yet to be resolved.

Assistant City Prosecutor Gene Fehr said Banks Lopez is on probation for two felony drug convictions in common pleas court.