Mill Creek Park cop finds AK-47 assault rifle during traffic stop

YOUNGSTOWN — An officer with the Mill Creek MetroParks Police Department early today found a loaded AK-47 assault rifle during a traffic stop.

Reports said the officer pulled over a car about 12:35 a.m. driven by Dawaylon Wilkerson, 24, of Clarencedale Avenue, for running a stop sign at Old Furnace Road and Robinson Hill on the West Side.

The officer saw the rifle in the back seat and also smelled marijuana, reports said. Reports said the rifle was loaded but Wilkerson told the officer there was no round in the chamber and he was taking it to his cousin, reports said.

Wilkerson is charged with improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle and is in the Mahoning County jail.