Man arrested while warrant served

By Joe Gorman

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

A man who refused to allow police into a West Side home Wednesday while they were serving a warrant in a child pornography investigation was taken into custody.

Nicholas Yukon, 29, was charged with obstructing official business and tampering with evidence after city police and the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force served the warrant in the morning at a home on South Hazelwood Avenue where he was staying.

Youngstown police officer Kelly Jankowski, who is heading the investigation for the task force, said Yukon could face additional charges as a result of the investigation, which began several months ago when a task force member used a covert law-enforcement program on the internet and received downloads of child pornography.

Investigators tracked the web address for the downloads, which led them to the South Hazelwood Avenue home, Jankowski said.

They also obtained a search warrant to seize all electronics inside the home, Jankowski said.

Other charges may be filed against Yukon once the devices seized at his home are examined, Jankowski said.

A neighbor, Branon Williams, said to see so many police on his street searching the home was “shocking.”

Williams said he did not know Yukon personally, but had seen him around the neighborhood.

The nature of the investigation is unsettling, Williams said.

“It makes you paranoid,” he said.

Yukon is expected to be arraigned Friday in municipal court on the tampering and obstruction charges.