HOWLAND, Ohio – A Mercer County man is in Trumbull County Jail after being arrested Thursday morning, which prompted an investigation at the Eastwood Mall Complex.
Niles police stopped John Podleyon of Mercer early Thursday morning in a city parking lot and discovered a cache of guns, ammunition, and homemade explosives in the vehicle.
“I saw a car in the parking lot that obviously didn’t belong there, so I stopped it,” Niles Police Capt. John Marshall explained. “Subsequent search of the car, they did locate a few guns and several, what appeared to be, homemade explosive devices.”
After speaking with the suspect, police discovered Podleyon was looking for a second car, which he claimed had been left at the Eastwood Mall Complex near Burlington Coat Factory and T.J. Maxx.
“We felt uneasy about it; let Howland know. We came out here to look at the car. Canfield sent their dog to investigate a possible bomb odor, so we had them leave,” Marshall explained.
This prompted calls to both the Youngstown Bomb Squad and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
“We had no idea what was in that trunk, and obviously, the ATF, the bomb squad, were able to get into it for us,” said Howland Police Chief Nick Roberts.
There were no explosives found in that vehicle, which detectives discovered had been there for a while.
“This vehicle entered this parking lot on September 1.” So it’s been here for a few weeks, but as I mentioned, it was abandoned. “The batter was taken out of the vehicle,” Roberts stated.
Podleyon was charged with five counts of possession of dangerous ordinance and one count of carrying a concealed weapon.
Bond was set at $100,000, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for September 22.
Podleyon’s vehicles have been impounded while police and the ATF conduct investigations.
