YPD arrests man with gun during South Side traffic stop

© Provided by WKBN Youngstown YPD arrests man with gun during South Side traffic stop

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — Reports said a man who is not allowed to have a gun because of criminal convictions dating back to 2012 was arrested Thursday on a gun charge.

Justin Patterson, 31, of Youngstown, was booked into the Mahoning County jail on charges of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of marijuana.

He is expected to be arraigned later today in municipal court.

Reports said Patterson was the driver of a car pulled over at about 3:50 p.m. at Pasadena Avenue and Gibson Street for excessive window tint, for which he also received a citation. A child was in the back seat but reports did not say how old the child was.

Police could smell marijuana coming from the car and when asked if he had any marijuana, reports said Patterson showed police a marijuana cigar that was in an ashtray. Patterson was asked to step out of the car to be searched and police found a bag of marijuana in his pants pocket, reports stated

Reports said Patterson told officers there were no weapons in the car but police found a loaded 9mm semiautomatic handgun underneath the front seat, according to reports.

When asked if he had any convictions that would bar him from owning a firearm, Patterson said he did.

A 2012 burglary conviction in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court bars Patterson from having a gun. He was arrested on a weapons charge in 2015 and sentenced to nine months in prison, court records show.

Patterson also has a 2015 conviction in a drug case.

In 2017, Patterson was also arrested on a weapons charge but prosecutors in common pleas court dismissed the case.

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