Bodycam released after Akron police find five loaded guns inside SUV full of teenagers

AKRON, Ohio (WOIO) - Police said five teenagers were inside an SUV with five loaded guns in Akron’s Joy Park neighborhood, leading to the arrest of a 17-year-old boy.

The weapons were found by the Akron Police Department’s Gun Violence Response Team just before 11:30 p.m. on July 30th.

According to the police report, the officers stopped a vehicle in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 1400 block of Minson Way.

When officers approached the vehicle, they reported seeing what appeared to be an Uzi and AK-47 in the back cargo area with the lift gate open.

Five teenagers were inside the car.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested and charged with two counts of carrying concealed weapons and two counts of having weapons under disability.

New bodycam video out of Akron. During a gun bust, police said "the crowd of people was reportedly aggressive and making threats toward officers creating a safety risk." pic.twitter.com/OxW4l58Txs
— Jim Nelson (@JimNelsonTV) August 10, 2022

The other four were questioned and released.

“You need to stop (expletive) around with these guys,” an officer told one of the girls in the car. “These people (expletive) around with the wrong folk and there’s people out to shoot them. If you’re next to them, you might get shot yourself.”

As officers investigated, a group of teenagers and/or young adults confronted them.

“Why did you put her in handcuffs?” one of them asked.

“I ain’t gonna lie, if I had a badge on, I’d beat your (expletive)... If you didn’t have a badge, I might beat your (expletive),” another said.

Former Akron detective Tim Dimoff, who works as a consultant, reviewed the footage.

“Those other officers that stood there did a really good job. They stood by to protect the officers and tolerated the conversation which at times wasn’t very pleasant,” he told 19 News. “If they didn’t investigate, then you would have citizens saying, ‘look you drove by a car that was open with firearms and those guns could’ve been used to kill someone ten minutes later.’”

Last week, 19 Investigates reported on the ‘no snitching’ code of silence, often leading to unsolved shootings involving teenagers.

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