Staff photo / Ed Runyan Chris Cordero stands in front of his home at 212 E. Boston Ave. on the South Side where gunfire occurs weekly, according to Cordero and neighbors. Cordero says others fire shots at his house because he is popular with women. There are about eight bullet holes visible on the outside of the house.

YOUNGSTOWN — The neighborhood around 212 E. Boston Ave. near Erie Street on the south side of Youngstown is plagued by gunfire, often daily, according to residents and police records showing officers are called frequently to the address — once 37 times in 29 days.

Last Sunday, 18 shots were recorded by police during one episode in the afternoon. A few hours earlier, a neighbor reported other gunshots.

The home, where local rapper Chris Cordero lives, also is known for late-night parties. Cordero admits he held parties, even during the coronavirus pandemic, which resulted in two people being charged with violating the state stay-at-home order. Cordero was not charged.

Cordero, whose performing name is “Crazy Chris,” said the gunfire has been a problem for about a month and happens “every week.”

Fewer than 10 bullet holes are visible on the outside of the house, but there is a bullet hole in the lower half of the front door and two others just below the picture window in the front.

Cordero said he believes people fire at his house because they don’t like that he is popular with women, and they want to shut down his parties.

“I’m just a target. People don’t like me, mainly because of girls, I’m guessing,” Cordero said this week. “They’re miserable. They’re mad that I’m having fun. That’s what I’m thinking. That’s the only thought that comes to mind.

“Other than that, I don’t bother nobody. Like I said, if somebody don’t like me, nine times out of 10, it’s probably about a girl because I’m the coolest. I’m a sweetheart out here.”

He denies that he ever fires a gun from his house in retaliation as neighbors have suggested.

“I’m not responsible for none of that,” he said. “I’ve got too much to jeopardize. I’m doing real good. I’m trying to keep a positive image.”

WORRIED NEIGHBORS

A neighbor asked about the gunfire near 212 E. Boston said, “It’s life-threatening, obviously. You take your life into your hands if you come outside. Something needs to be done, but I don’t know who will do it.

“I wish the FBI would get involved some way, but I don’t know,” the resident said.

None of the neighbors were aware of anyone being hit by the gunfire, but some of the neighboring homes have been hit.

Each of the neighbors interviewed has concerns they could become a victim.

“It comes from every side — the front, the side, the back. It comes from selling drugs. Too many drugs,” another resident said, adding, “It has to be a rivalry of some sort.”

The second neighbor said gunfire happens “a few times a week at least,” and it’s a problem stemming from more than just 212 E. Boston.

A third neighbor said Cordero has “so much going on,” adding, “It’s real bad.”

This neighbor estimated that gunfire being fired at the house or being fired from the house happens about every other day. The situation has been bad for about four months, the resident said.

The third neighbor said living in the neighborhood is “scary” and “just so sad.” The resident said he or she “just left the doctor because I’m so tense.”

The resident said he or she has called the police and called the owner of the house, who lives in California. He never calls back, the resident said.

Partying typically happens at the house late at night or early in the morning, the resident said, calling it an “after-party house.”

Another neighbor asked how often there is gunfire associated with 212 E. Boston said, “It’s a lot. People are afraid to come outside.”

‘HOTSPOT’

Youngstown police Chief Robin Lees said the police department has “obviously identified that address (212 E. Boston) as well as the block as a hotspot that is checked on regularly.”

Lees said the department’s community police also “have been working with some of the neighbors on the core issues in the neighborhood.”

The Vindicator called a phone number associated with an owner of the property as listed in Mahoning County Auditor’s records, Cassandra Lawrence, but the woman said she lives in California and has no connection to the property.

Calls to the phone numbers for Leon Elliott, another person listed on county records as an owner, did not ring through to a person or voicemail.

Gunfire was most recently reported near the address on May 17. The city’s ShotSpotter technology, which alerts police to gunfire on the city’s South Side, indicated 18 shots were fired near the home at 212 E. Boston Ave. at 2:24 p.m.

A neighbor told police the shots were aimed at 212 E. Boston and that someone also fired at the house a few hours earlier, according to a police report.

The report states that the same house has been “shot at multiple times in the past two months.”

POLICE REPORTS

The Vindicator asked for copies of reports related to 212 E. Boston Ave. for the past two months and received 40 call logs, which generally are a single page and give the time, date and address of a complaint.

Most of the call logs for 212 E. Boston indicate that an officer was dispatched to the home and stayed as little as a minute or two to more than an hour. The logs generally do not indicate what type of problem was reported but indicate “no further action” was taken.

One exception was a call log from April 18 that involved people in the street arguing and a man with a gun in his pocket taking it out and threatening people. No arrest was made.

One call did lead to an arrest. On April 2, Eugene Thompkins, 28, was charged with violating the state’s stay-at-home order when police found a large gathering of people at the house at 6:02 p.m. and dispersed the crowd.

Police were there one day earlier for a similar reason and returned two days later to charge Jimmeze K. Shelton, 24, and Dwayne A. Moody Jr., 29, with violating the order. A few days later, on April 8, police responded to calls of 20 people loitering in the street at about 8:30 p.m.

From April 23 through May 21 — 29 days — police responded 37 times to the house.

Cordero, 33, was sentenced to one year in prison in July 2016 on convictions for being a felon in possession of a firearm, carrying concealed weapons and aggravated drug possession, according to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court records.

Cordero told Judge Lou D’Apolito he carried a gun to protect himself from people who were jealous of his success in music, according to a Vindicator news article from the time.

erunyan@tribtoday.com