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Trial underway in weapons case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Jurors will return to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court at 10 a.m. today to determine the fate of a man charged with several weapons offenses.
Joseph Grove, 31, of East Auburndale Avenue, is on trial before Judge Anthony D’Apolito on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, carrying concealed weapons, receiving stolen property and possession of drugs.
A city police officer testified Tuesday that he was not going to pull over a suspicious car in March, which Grove was driving, even after a license plate check showed it belonged to a woman with a suspended license and a man was driving.
When the car began abruptly pulling into drives in the Brier Hill neighborhood Thomas Phillips was patrolling, however, he said he knew it was time to investigate.
Grove was the driver of the car that Phillips saw March 5 driving first on Superior Avenue and later on Delaware Avenue. He said the car looked out of place in the neighborhood, so he checked the plates. He did not appear overly concerned until the car suddenly pulled into a drive. Phillips said it looked like the car was trying to avoid him.
In the 1000 block of Delaware Avenue, Grove pulled in and went all the way into the back of the home. That is when Phillips got out of his cruiser to investigate. He said Grove got out of the car and was clutching his jacket like he was holding something inside until he was out of sight.
When he reappeared, he held his arms out and told Phillips he had a suspended license. Phillips got permission to search Grove and found some drugs on him, put handcuffs on him and placed him in a cruiser.
Phillips testified he saw footprints in the snow and followed them to a garbage can next to the back porch. Inside the garbage can he found a stolen semiautomatic handgun, which had been reported stolen from Boardman.
The 70-year-old woman who lives in the home testified that earlier in the day her trash can had been emptied by garbage collectors, and before she dragged it up the drive she checked to make sure all the garbage was gone. She said it was empty.
Grove has previous convictions for trafficking in drugs, breaking and entering, aggravated robbery and carrying a concealed weapon, all convictions that bar him from owning a firearm.