YOUNGSTOWN — Among the many charges filed over the weekend in the downtown area, perhaps the most serious was the felony drug possession charge filed against Aariyana Brown-Griffin, 19.

She was arraigned Monday in Youngstown Municipal Court on the fifth-degree felony. She returns to court for a preliminary hearing at 10 a.m. Aug. 11. If convicted, she could get a year in prison, but she could also get no jail or prison time. No plea is required on felony charges at the municipal court level.

The charges resulted after police officers saw a vehicle leave the parking lot next to the Social bar on Commerce Street downtown at 1:18 a.m. Sunday and drive past officers at Wick Avenue and Commerce Street.

Officers determined that the registration on the vehicle was expired, and a traffic stop was made.

There were four people in the car, including one juvenile. All of them appeared to be “extremely nervous,” the report states. They said they were coming from the Social bar, despite being under age 21. Brown-Griffin said she had a temporary driving permit but did not have it with her. She also was unable to provide proof of insurance or registration of the vehicle.

Officers asked all of the occupants to step out of the vehicle, and Brown-Griffin gave permission to search the vehicle. Officers found what appeared to be a bindle of cocaine. Brown-Griffin was taken into custody and taken to the Mahoning County jail on a felony drug charge, the report states. Cash of $878 was seized as evidence. One of the occupants was given a warning for a curfew violation and released to a family member, the report states.

Most of the other charges filed were for things such as misdemeanor driving in marked lanes, having an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle, having excessively dark window tint, criminal trespass in a parking lot, failure to disclose personal information, driving under suspension and making an improper turn.

GUN CHARGE

The driver of a car pulled over at 11:40 p.m. Friday for allegedly crossing the center line was going to be charged with a felony weapons offense after officers found a handgun in the front of the car, but that man did not have any new felony offenses on file in Youngstown Municipal Court as of Tuesday evening.

The man, 19, was only charged with a minor misdemeanor driving in marked lanes offense and will be arraigned Friday. He was released from the county jail Saturday, the same day he was booked into the jail, according to jail records.

The downtown crackdown last weekend followed a news conference last week by city officials, including Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, who said, “Our strategic plan is to ensure the safety and well-being of all who travel downtown.”

Brown and police Chief Carl Davis specifically mentioned The Social and the Circle Hookah and Bar as two downtown trouble spots. Both locations were mentioned in police reports. Davis said he’s been forced to reassign police officers to downtown because of problems happening in the downtown area on weekends.