Law enforcement officials found a loaded handgun inside a compartment in the car of Muhidin Muktar Mohamed following a low-speed chase in Marysville. He is facing gun and other charges following the incident that ended at the man’s home on Meadows Drive. Mohamed is already under indictment on other gun charges. (Photo submitted)
A Marysville man is facing gun charges following a traffic stop.
Muhidin Muktar Mohamed, 29, of 684 Meadows Drive, Marysville, was arrested Tuesday after a traffic stop.
About 3:09 p.m. Wednesday, Mohamed was driving a 2011 Chevrolet north on North Maple Street in the school zone near Amrine Mill Road. Marysville Police Officer Jon Murray checked the car’s speed at 35 miles per hour in a 20-mph zone.
“There is a reason the speed is lower in a school zone — you have a lot of kids coming and going and a lot of traffic drivers need to be looking out for,” said Tony Brooks, deputy chief of the Marysville Division of Police.
The officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop, but “the driver failed to stop for the officer and continued north on N. Maple Street,” according to court documents.
Brooks said Mohamed turned west on Quail Hollow Drive, then pulled into the 600 block of Meadows Drive.
“He wasn’t traveling at a high rate of speed, but he wasn’t yielding, he was disregarding the officer’s signals and in fact, he turns in front of another vehicle to get away,” Brooks said.
Even when Mohamed arrived at his apartment and stopped the vehicle, he continued to ignore the officer, Brooks said.
“The Marysville K-9 Unit had arrived on scene and conducted a walk around the vehicle,” Brooks wrote in a statement. “The canine gave a positive alert to the vehicle for the presence of illegal drugs.”
Police began to search the car and found a loaded handgun and an unidentified pill inside a small compartment near where the driver’s left knee would be.
“A check of the handgun’s serial number found it was reported stolen out of Columbus,” according to the written statement.
When police confronted the man, “he made his feelings about the police department known to us,” Brooks said.
He told police he felt the stop was “racially motivated.”
“He was not real resistant, but he was definitely dissatisfied,” Brooks said.
He said there is a danger when someone has an illegal firearm.
“It wouldn’t have taken much for the situation to turn bad if he had additional bad intentions,” Brooks said. “Plus, there is obviously some reason why you would have a stolen gun, rather than go through the steps to legally obtain a gun.”
Mohamed was charged with driving under suspension, speed in a school zone, fleeing and eluding, improper handling of a firearm, drug possession and receiving stolen property.
“This case remains under investigation and other charges could be forthcoming,” according to the statement.
Mohamed is actually under indictment on two counts of improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle.
According to court documents, on Aug. 17, Mohamed was driving west on U.S. 33 when he was stopped by a trooper from the Ohio State Highway Patrol. He was cited for driving under the influence and driving on a forfeited license. When the man’s vehicle was searched, investigators found a loaded .45-caliber handgun in the car.
He had an arrest warrant issued in the case because he failed to appear for his initial arraignment in the case.
He has been arrested at least four times since January 2019.
“He is a repeat offender,” Brooks said. “He continues to drive without a license, he has failure to appears. I don’t think he has much regard for authority and that rules don’t apply to him.”