Police: Wanted man arrested after pulling stolen gun on couple arguing outside Harmar motel room

Harmar police accused a convicted felon who is not allowed to possess a gun with pulling a stolen pistol on a couple who were arguing outside their motel room at 2 a.m.

Police said the gun had been altered to fire like a machine gun.

Vincent Johnson III, 22, of the 1600 block of Clarkton Street in Pittsburgh’s Chartiers neighborhood was charged with felony counts of receiving stolen property, illegal possession of a firearm and carrying a firearm without a license.

He also faces two counts each of making terroristic threats and simple assault along with counts of altering a firearm and providing false identification to police.

Johnson was being detained in the Allegheny County Jail in lieu of a $5,000 cash bond. A preliminary hearing on the charges is scheduled before District Judge David Sosovicka on Monday, according to court records.

Officers were dispatched shortly after 2 a.m. Jan. 18 to the Days Inn in Harmar after the front desk clerk reported seeing two men on video surveillance walking outside the building with a gun threatening one of the guests, according to a criminal complaint.

When police arrived, they questioned a man staying at the motel who told them that his brother-in-law was arguing with his girlfriend outside their room when two men came out of a nearby room and tried to intervene, the complaint said.

When the two men were told to “stay back and stay out of our business,” one of them pulled out a gun, threatened them and then put the weapon back into his waistband before the pair returned to their room, police said.

Officers found two men were in the room along with the woman who rented it. She gave them permission to search the room, where they found a pair of 16-round magazines for a pistol, the complaint said. One of the magazines was loaded with five rounds.

Johnson initially gave police a different first name and date of birth, but investigators were able to positively identify him and determined he was wanted on several outstanding arrest warrants, the complaint said.

Police said the woman also gave them permission to search her vehicle, where they found a 9 mm Glock pistol with an extended magazine under the front passenger seat, the complaint said.

The magazine was loaded with 32 rounds of ammunition plus one round in the chamber. A black bag with ammo and Johnson’s driver’s license were found next to the gun, police said.

Two high-capacity magazines and another bag of ammo also were found in the glove box, police said.

Police determined that the gun was reported stolen out of Pittsburgh. A criminal background search for Johnson showed he was convicted in 2018 of illegal possession of a firearm by a minor and is no longer allowed to have a gun. He also does not have a permit to carry a firearm.