Jul 16, 2013 2 min read

Running out of gas on Interstate 70 Monday evening landed a Pittsburgh cab driver in the Washington County jail after state police found a handgun under the front seat of his vehicle.

Johnny Junior Smith, 26, was arrested on a charge of carrying a firearm without a license. State police were on patrol about 6:50 p.m. on Interstate 70 east about two miles east of the Claysville exit in Donegal Township when an officer spotted a Yellow Cab on the shoulder of the highway with two women outside the cab and Smith sitting in the driver’s seat.

Smith told police that it was his cab and he had driven his friends from Pittsburgh to Cabela’s, near Dallas Pike, W.Va., and they were on their way back to Pittsburgh. His story seemed suspicious, police indicated in court records.

The trooper called the cab company and learned the cab should not have been at that location. A company employee told police they would send a representative to bring it back to Pittsburgh. While on the telephone, police asked for permission to search the vehicle. They found a .45-caliber Taurus pistol under the front seat.

Smith told police that he found the gun in the vehicle earlier that day. He said it was likely left behind by a fare from over the weekend. Smith claimed to have no idea who owned the weapon.

As police were searching the vehicle, a man carrying a gasoline can walked up to the cab. He was a third passenger in the vehicle. Smith was arraigned before District Judge Valarie Costanzo and placed in the Washington County jail on $5,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is set for July 29 before District Judge Ethan Ward.