Man arrested; reportedly had assault rifle

Members of the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force arrested a man after he was reported walking the street with an assault rifle.

Task-force members on patrol for the city’s V Grip program went to Erie Street and Myrtle Avenue at 10:38 p.m. Friday to check on reports that a man identified as Christopher Shiflett, 22, of 1038 Erie St. was walking the street in a black ski mask with the rifle, police reported.

They surrounded his house and the neighborhood, then asked a woman who answered the door to let them search the house.

The woman, Nicole Brumert, 23, refused and denied Shiflett was there.

Neighbors told police they saw Shiflett walk south on Erie with the rifle in a “ready” position.

Police called on a loudspeaker for him to come out, and they made Brumert, who was holding a baby, leave the doorway. The homeowner, Arnold Shiflett, came home meanwhile and told police they could search the house.

Using mirrors through a hole in a bathroom closet ceiling, police saw the assault rifle and then Shiflett, in the attic. When he wouldn’t surrender, they broke holes in the ceiling with a pry bar, got him and arrested him.

He was charged with outstanding warrants from Youngstown, Struthers and Kent; resisting arrest; possession of criminal tools; disorderly conduct; and drug abuse instruments when he was found trying to hide a hypodermic needle under the seat in the police cruiser, a police report says.

Brumert was also arrested and charged with obstructing justice. They were taken to the Mahoning County jail.