YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – City Police Neighborhood response unit He confiscated seven weapons and arrested four adults and one youth overnight Thursday, with the help of members of the Steel Penguin Anti-Weapon Detail.
The seizures give police at least 15 guns that were seized this week. One person was also shot dead early on Sunday morning that week One person was shot and another was wounded within 12 hours Wednesday evening to Thursday morning.
All but one of the weapons confiscated this week have been confiscated on the south side. All three shootings took place on the south side.
Police dog Spawn also helped officers locate two guns they said were thrown from a car that was followed around 11:15 p.m. after police tried to overtake it for a traffic violation.
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The car reportedly chased officers down several streets in the South Side and twice someone threw something out of the car before stopping in one drive on the 800 block of Roxbuy Avenue.
Three people jumped out and ran away, reports say. Police managed to attack Boardman’s driver Javon Sutton-Elliot, 30, but were only able to get him under control when they cursed him.
Police reportedly searched Sutton-Elliot and found him with $ 2,375 in cash. Spawn and his handler, Officer Jacob Short, searched the area where police saw things thrown out of the car and reported that they had found a bag of heroin and two loaded 40-caliber handguns.
Sutton-Elliot was sent to Mahoning County Jail on charges of being a criminal in possession of a firearm, improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, possession of drugs, and failure of a police officer’s order or signal to have complied.
Sutton-Elliot is banned from having or being around a gun because of a 2015 Mahoning County Common Pleas Court conviction of heroin possession. In 2017 he was arrested for being a criminal in possession of a firearm. However, the charges were changed to obstruct the official deal and he was placed on parole, which court records indicate he had violated. Boardman has a pending domestic violence arrest warrant against Boardman, according to court records.
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At around 8:55 p.m., NRU officials and steel penguins drove over a car on South and East Indianola Streets after someone was spotted in the car throwing garbage out the window.
Police reportedly smelled marijuana in the car and the driver of the car gave police permission to search it. One of the passengers in the back seat, Kyshaun Hendrix (18), kept hiding his hands. As he got out of the car, officials reportedly found a loaded 9mm pistol between the door and the seat he was sitting in.
Police searched the car and also found a loaded 40-caliber pistol that was in a box and two bags of marijuana.
Hendrix was sent to prison for improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle. A 17-year-old boy was also reportedly arrested for gun violence. The 40-caliber pistol was reportedly reported stolen in Youngstown on January 30th.
At around 5:10 p.m., police drove over a car driven by Warren’s Xavier Calhoun, 22, to make an illegal turn on West Indianola Avenue. Calhoun reportedly has a suspended license and he gave police permission to search his car. Inside, they found two loaded 9mm handguns, including one with an expanded magazine and an empty drum magazine, 10 tablets, 19 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition commonly used in AR-15 semi-automatic rifles, and 4,250 US dollars in cash.
Calhoun was admitted to prison for drug possession and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle.
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At around 2:55 p.m. on Market Street and West Philadelphia Avenue, police drove over a car driven by Michael Martinez, 19, of East Lucius Avenue to make a wrong turn. Police reportedly saw a bag of marijuana in his pocket, and when Martinez was asked if he had guns in the car, he sighed and said yes.
Police found a loaded 9mm pistol under the seat, reports say.
Martinez was sent to prison for improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle.
The NRU was founded by Police Chief Carl Davis. It consists of five officers, all of whom regularly patrolled the South Side. They focus on areas of the city known to be the location of gun arrests and gun crimes.
Operation Steel Penguin is a combined law enforcement made up of members of the city police; Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office; the Federal Office for Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the state Adult Parole Authority, which focuses on finding known gun perpetrators.
