BOARDMAN — A Youngstown woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to several drug charges after an argument in a parked car earlier this month drew the wrong kind of attention and landed two of its occupants in jail.

A Boardman police report states that a patrolman saw a vehicle come to a sudden stop in the inside lane of Market Street about 4:30 p.m. Jan. 3. One of the passengers, Alika Thomas, 36, of Youngstown, was charged with both misdemeanor and felony counts of drug possession, as well as possession of drug paraphernalia and drug abuse.

On Tuesday, she pleaded guilty to all charges, including a reduction of the fifth-degree felony to a misdemeanor, and Boardman Court Judge Joseph Houser imposed a 180-day sentence with 170 days suspended and credit for the seven days she spent in Mahoning County jail since the arrest.

Garret Craig, 31, of Youngstown, was arrested on an active warrant from Mahoning Boardman Court for failure to appear on a drug possession charge, along with an additional charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. Court records indicate he pleaded not guilty and a pretrial hearing is scheduled for Feb. 1.

According to the police report, the driver — Robert Johnson, 57, of Midlothian Boulevard in Youngstown — got out of his car on Jan. 3 and walked around to the passenger side, opened the door, and started yelling at Thomas and Craig.

The patrolman pulled up behind to ask why he stopped in the middle of traffic. The officer identified Thomas and Craig and found that Craig had an active warrant. The report states that Craig was found in possession of a crack pipe, wooden push rods and a $100 bill.

Police then searched the vehicle. The report states they found a box of counterfeit bills of various amounts, a BB gun, Vaultz brand locked money bags containing unknown items, a crack pipe, pipe filter materials, a drug scale with residue on it and empty plastic baggies. The report states that Johnson said the locked bags contained his medicine but that he had forgotten the combination.

A police dog was called to the scene and sniffed through the vehicle before coming to a stop at the locked bags and indicating that they contained drugs. The report states that police sought a warrant to open the bags, but does not say if that warrant was obtained or what specifically was in the locked bags.

Johnson was released from the stop with a citation for being stopped in traffic. Court records for Johnson do not indicate any further charges have been filed.

The report states that police also found a purse belonging to Thomas. According to the report, the purse contained a crack pipe, two bindles of cocaine, counterfeit bills, and an Ohio ID belonging to a person who has been deceased since 2022.

dpompili@vindy.com