By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Two men arrested last Friday on gun and drug-related charges had initial hearings in Crawford County Municipal Court Wednesday afternoon.
Twenty-two-year-old Weston Mulvaine of Bucyrus was charged with having weapons under disability, a third-degree felony that carries a maximum sentence of 36 months in prison. He was also charged with violating his Municipal Court probation.
The incident allegedly began when Bucyrus police officer David Rowland received information on Mulvaine’s whereabouts. The Bucyrus man had an active warrant out for his arrest after he failed to appear for a pre-trial hearing in Municipal Court on Jan. 6.
Upon arriving at 214 Ethel St., Rowland made contact with Mulvaine and tried to secure him for an arrest, assistant prosecutor Rob Kidd told Municipal Court Judge Sean Leuthold. During that time, Kidd alleged, Mulvaine retreated into the residence and started fiddling with something in his pocket. When Rowland told Mulvaine to remove his hands from his pockets, Mulvaine raised his hands and a firearm fell to the ground.
As Mulvaine continued to resist arrest, he was taken into another room where officers found drug paraphernalia.
“It could have been very dangerous for the officer,” remarked Kidd.
Mulvaine’s history included domestic violence and resisting arrest in 2014 and a drug possession charge from 2015 that Mulvaine said he pleaded guilty to but court records show him entering a not guilty plea and a pre-trial date set for earlier this month.
“Mr. Mulvaine, you do not have a very good track record with this court,” Leuthold warned.
Leuthold set bond at $150,000 for the new charge and issued a personal recognizance bond for the probation violation.
Mulvaine’s co-defendant, Sean Dickerson, was charged with felony five drug possession.
As officers attempted to secure the rest of the house, they secured two other people before finding Dickerson in an upstairs bedroom where a scale, residue, balloons, and bindles of suspected heroin were discovered. Officers also found $1,700 on Dickerson’s person.
Dickerson claimed Wednesday that he was Facebook friends with Mulvaine and was just visiting.
Kidd believed Dickerson, who is from Columbus, was potentially using or selling drugs and requested a $100,000 bond. He noted that additional criminal charged could be filed against Dickerson.
Dickerson had prior convictions, however, which led Leuthold to set bond at $50,000 and to give a warning to the defendant.
“Crawford County has taken a very firm stance on people who are using and selling heroin,” Leuthold said. He later added that Dickerson should find better Facebook friends.
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