Staff photo / Ed Runyan Members of the Youngstown Police Department walk out of the home of a family member of NFL draftee Lynn Bowden on Superior Street on Youngstown’s North Side Wednesday morning, with several rifles and a box marked “DEA evidence.” About 15 officers and agents with several federal agencies carried out a drug raid at the house but apparently made no arrests.

YOUNGSTOWN — The North Side family home of Lynn Bowden Jr., who was drafted by the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders in April, was searched Wednesday morning by about 15 Youngstown police officers and federal agents.

About 90 minutes after the search on Superior Street led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration began, black-shirted Youngstown police officers walked out the front door carrying several tagged rifles and a box marked “DEA evidence.”

A Youngstown police officer who was asked for details called it a “typical drug search warrant” and said he is “attached to” the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Other agents present were with the U.S. Marshal’s Service and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. All officers and agents left around 10 a.m., apparently without making any arrests.

An 11:10 a.m. Wednesday tweet by Melissa Phillips, Bowden’s mother, said this: “Please stop. My son is not arrested. That’s not his home. It’s our grandma’s house and she’s never been in trouble in her entire life so the information is very inaccurate.”

Wednesday afternoon, a woman at the home identifying herself as Bowden’s mother showed a statement from Element Sports, which represents Bowden.

It read: “This morning, a house belonging to a family member of our client, Lynn Bowden Jr., was searched by the DEA in Youngstown, Ohio. Lynn and his young son were guests at the home.

“During the process, authorities handcuffed all who were present to secure the area. Lynn fully cooperated with law enforcement during the search. At the conclusion of the search, Lynn was released, not arrested and not charged with any crime. In fact, no arrests were made.”

Such treatment is common at area drug raids, where investigators typically seize and test evidence before filing criminal charges or making arrests.

What made this search atypical, however, was that recent standout college player Bowden apparently was detained on the porch with a couple of other males while the search took place.

Bystanders said they saw Bowden on the porch and that he was sitting low enough to be only barely visible.

Youngstown police Chief Robin Lees later confirmed that Bowden was at the home when the raid occurred and described the location as being a “family home,” though he said he did not know whether Bowden uses it as his permanent address.

The Raiders drafted Bowden on April 25 in the third round of the NFL draft — the 80th pick overall after a college career at the University of Kentucky, where he played for head coach and Youngstown native Mark Stoops.

Bowden was a receiver at Kentucky until midway through last season, when he moved to quarterback because of injuries. He ran for 1,486 yards and 13 TDs, averaging 7.9 yards per carry last season. He caught 67 passes for 745 yards and five TDs in 2018 when he was primarily a receiver.

A Youngstown native, Bowden attended and played football at Liberty High School before playing his junior and senior seasons at Warren G. Harding High School.

A national online outlet called The Athletic has written several articles mentioning Bowden’s growing up years in Youngstown, including one published in August that mentioned some of the “North Side boys” with whom he hung out.

When asked if he was a gang member, Bowden said, “I wouldn’t say gang member. It was just, like, a family thing. We all ran together and we all did stuff together. Just a group of North Side boys.”

When asked what kind of stuff they did, he said, “Fighting, smoking, carrying guns.”

The article mentioned that he was a witness to a shooting death that took place in 2006 at a high school football game in Youngstown when he was 9.

“That’s the first time I saw a person get killed,” Bowden said. “I seen a lot of shootouts. Too many. Too many.”

Bowden has tattoos over much of his body, including one of the the red bricks in front of his grandmother’s house on Superior Street, The Athletic article stated. He grew up there with about a dozen relatives, the article says.

Bowden told The Athletic that the birth of his son three years ago changed his life, especially because his own father had not been around for him.