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WARREN -- A Kings Drive SW man has been indicted on federal charges linked to a gun being pulled on a customer March 2 at a Family Dollar store in Warren.
George B. Vanderwall Jr., 35, of Newton Township pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The arraignment was held via video link to federal Magistrate Judge Carmen E Henderson's courtroom.
Henderson set a schedule for the case and ordered Vanderwall to remain in custody of the federal marshal, court records state. A jury trial has been set for 9 a.m. Aug. 12 before federal Judge Dan Polster, with pretrials set for July 22 and Aug. 5, 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 on March 11, jail 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.
Because of Vanderwall's 2019 conviction of domestic violence in Cuyahoga County, the indictment states, he is barred from possessing a firearm under the federal Brady Bill.