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WARREN -- A 34-year-old Kings Drive SW man who was accused of pulling a gun on another customer March 2 at a Family Dollar store in Warren is facing federal charges in the case.
George Vanderwall Jr. of Newton Township appeared for an initial video hearing Thursday before federal Magistrate Judge Carmen E. Henderson, who remanded Vanderwall to federal custody. He is expected to appear 3 p.m. Wednesday for a video preliminary hearing, court records show.
Vanderwall, who had his local charges of carrying concealed weapons, having weapons under restrictions and menacing canceled due to the federal case, was released from Trumbull County jail to federal custody at 11 a.m. Thursday, records show.
According to a federal affidavit, a clerk at the Family Dollar, 1139 W. Market St., reported to police that a man pulled a gun on another customer about 3:30 p.m. March 2. A witness told a Warren police officer the suspect was tall, had tattoos on his face and was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with jeans. About 10 minutes later, Vanderwall was stopped with a 22-year-old woman near the intersection of Haymaker Avenue and Ward Street NW.
Upon searching Vanderwall, officers found a loaded .32-caliber CZ-model handgun in the pocket of his hoodie. A Beretta .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol was pulled from the pocket of the woman's sweatshirt. Also two plastic bags of ammunition were found on Vanderwall, the affidavit states.
The clerk later told an officer the man pulled the gun on another store patron after a brief argument over the lack of social distancing in the checkout line.