A routine equipment stop on Sperry Drive last Saturday turned into a felony weapons arrest after Westlake police say they found a loaded 9mm handgun tucked inside the glove compartment of a Nissan SUV. The front-seat passenger, a 29-year-old Cleveland resident, told officers he knew the gun was in the car but denied it belonged to him, according to police.
That admission was enough for police to move forward with charges. As reported by Cleveland.com, officers stopped the SUV on August 22 on Sperry Drive, a corridor that runs near Interstate 90 and is lined with hotels including the WestSpring Inn and a nearby Courtyard by Marriott, according to Travel Weekly. During the stop, officers said they noticed signs of suspected drug use inside the vehicle before searching it and locating the loaded handgun in the glove box.
Police say the woman driving the SUV was not aware the firearm was inside the vehicle, and investigators do not believe she was involved. The passenger, however, was taken into custody and charged with a new felony count of having weapons while under disability, per the same account.
A Criminal Record That Barred Him From Owning a Gun
According to police, the passenger was legally disqualified from possessing any firearm because of prior convictions for felonious assault, aggravated robbery, and a previous weapons-under-disability offense. Under Ohio law, a conviction for aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony under Ohio Revised Code § 2911.01, or felonious assault, a second-degree felony under R.C. 2903.11, creates a permanent legal disability barring someone from acquiring or possessing firearms in the state.
That disability doesn't bend even under Ohio's permitless-carry law. The state's Constitutional Carry statute, R.C. 2923.111, enacted in 2022, allows qualifying adults 21 and older to carry concealed handguns without a permit, but it explicitly keeps the prohibition in place for anyone already barred under state or federal weapons-disability rules, according to the law firm Zukerman Law.
Denying Ownership Doesn't Erase the Charge
The passenger's insistence that the gun wasn't his may not matter much in court. Ohio's constructive-possession standard allows prosecutors to charge someone with having weapons while under disability if they can show the person knowingly had access to or control over a firearm, even without proof of ownership, per the Meade Law Group. Because the handgun was found in the glove box directly in front of where he was sitting, and he told officers he knew it was there, that access alone can support the charge.
Having weapons while under disability is a third-degree felony in Ohio, carrying a potential sentence of 9 to 36 months in state prison and fines up to $10,000 upon conviction, according to Ohio law. The case will now move through the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas General Division in Cleveland, which handles felony prosecutions arising from arrests across the county, including those made by Westlake police.
Possible Federal Exposure Given His Record
Beyond state charges, the passenger's prior violent felony convictions could expose him to federal prosecution as well. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), previously convicted felons found in possession of firearms face a federal Class D felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and fines as high as $250,000, according to Medvin Law. Federal Sentencing Commission data from fiscal year 2025 shows 7,245 federal cases nationwide involved § 922(g) firearms-possession convictions, with 89 percent of those defendants qualifying because of a prior felony record.
It remains unknown whether the driver received any citation related to the equipment violation that triggered the stop, or whether the suspected drug evidence observed in the vehicle will lead to additional charges. It's also unclear whether federal prosecutors in the Northern District of Ohio will take up the case given the passenger's history of aggravated robbery and felonious assault convictions.
Part of a Broader Pattern Along Westlake's Highway Corridor
This isn't the first time this year that a Westlake traffic stop has ended with officers pulling a firearm out of a vehicle. In April, Westlake police found an unsecured, loaded handgun during another stop tied to suspected drug activity, leading to concealed-weapons charges in a case Hoodline previously covered involving a Lorain father. That same month, Westlake City Council approved a $127,000 settlement tied to a 2021 traffic stop in which officers seized a firearm, only for the weapons charges to later be dismissed after a judge suppressed the evidence, a case Hoodline detailed in its report on the traffic-stop settlement payout.
