FOSTORIA, Ohio — A 22-year-old man is facing a fourth-degree felony charge after Seneca County sheriff’s deputies reported finding two loaded handguns in a car stopped near Fostoria early Tuesday, June 23, following a 911 report that someone had fired shots and pointed a laser at an occupied trailer.

Ethan Lucas Mercado is charged with improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle, a violation of Ohio Revised Code 2923.16(B) and a felony of the fourth degree, according to the Seneca County Clerk of Courts. The case is active in Seneca County Common Pleas Court, where it was filed June 23 before Judge Steve C. Shuff. Jail booking records list a $150,000 bond.

The single felony count covers knowingly transporting or having a loaded firearm in a vehicle in a way that makes it accessible without leaving the vehicle. A related misdemeanor charge of driving under a financial-responsibility suspension was dismissed, booking records show.

Mercado, listed at a Findlay address in court records, has retained attorney Sagan S. Kahler, who filed a demand for discovery and a request for a bill of particulars the day the case was filed, according to the docket. Seneca County Prosecutor Derek W. Devine is listed as the prosecuting attorney. No plea has been entered, and Mercado is presumed innocent.

According to reports released to TiffinOhio.net under a public records request, the Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call at about 12:08 a.m. reporting possible shots fired at a trailer at 5473 N. Township Road 63 in Jackson Township. A caller reported that a gold Honda Accord had circled the residence, and the caller’s father followed the car and relayed its location to dispatchers as deputies responded, the reports state.

Fostoria police stopped the car on County Road 25 near County Road 591, where the driver, identified as Mercado, and a passenger were detained, according to the reports. Deputies wrote that they found a Glock 17 9 mm handgun with an extended magazine under the driver’s seat and a Glock 43X fitted with a red laser behind it, both loaded. Investigators also reported recovering a spent shell casing, additional ammunition, magazines, a pair of brass knuckles and two cellphones, which were seized as evidence.

A resident told deputies he heard gunshots and saw a red laser pointed toward the trailer as the car passed, and that the dispute traced back to an earlier feud, the reports state. Investigators wrote that Mercado was alleged to have shared images on Snapchat showing himself in the car with firearms.

Mercado denied firing at the home. He told deputies he had set off a firework in front of the residence and that any shooting had occurred earlier in a field on family property near Arcadia, according to a supplemental report. He initially described a laser seen at the trailer as a “cat laser,” the report states, though one deputy wrote that Mercado later acknowledged pointing a handgun and laser toward the residence.

Deputies reported that they did not find any spent shell casings on the roadway or in the grass at the trailer; the only items recovered there were a firework tube and a lighter. A single spent 9 mm casing was found inside the car, which Mercado said came from shooting in the field earlier in the night. One deputy noted that long grass along the road would have made casings difficult to locate.

Mercado told deputies the car and the firearms belonged to his girlfriend and that he was on probation, the reports state. A preliminary breath test reflected a 0.073 blood-alcohol level, according to a supplemental report. No impaired-driving charge was filed.

The passenger was released without charges, the reports state.

The case remains pending in Seneca County Common Pleas Court. A subpoena was issued June 24 for the sheriff’s deputy who wrote the main incident report, according to the docket.

TiffinOhio.net previously reported Mercado’s arrest. This story has been updated with details from court records and sheriff’s reports obtained through a public records request.