ST. CLAIRSVILLE — A man armed with a variety of weapons was arrested as he approached a residence in the city early Friday.

St. Clairsville police officers observed a vehicle pull into a private driveway at 12:23 a.m. Friday. The driver then got out and moved from the front to the rear of the car, and did not appear as if he belonged there.

Officers approached the man, who was later identified as 57-year-old Bryan Scott Akins from Uniontown.

Akins reportedly told them that the home belonged to a friend who wouldn’t mind that he was there.

According to St. Clairsville Police Chief Matt Arbenz, Akins appeared to be very nervous while speaking to the officers. Belmont County sheriff’s deputies arrived to provide backup, and officers contacted the homeowner, who said he had no idea who Akins was or why he was on his property.

Officers then noticed a handgun between the seat and the center console of the vehicle Akins was driving. Officers could also see drug paraphernalia inside the car on the passenger seat.

When officers advised Akins that they had probable cause to investigate his vehicle, he told them there were several weapons in his vehicle. He said all but one were pellet or airsoft guns and that there was a shotgun in the trunk, but he wasn’t sure if it was real.

Officers then searched his vehicle and found a rubber Halloween mask, two pellet pistols, two pellet rifles and a loaded 20-gauge shotgun in the trunk, as well as several items of drug paraphernalia, suspected drugs and digital scales.

Akins had no driver’s license, and information came back to the officers that he was a convicted felon, which disqualifies him from possessing firearms. His convictions included bank robbery, domestic violence, menacing, burglary, resisting arrest and various drug charges.

Before placing Akins in a cruiser, officers performed a pat down and reportedly found that he was carrying brass knuckles and white powder suspected to be illegal drugs.

Akins was then transported to the Belmont County Jail and charged with drug paraphernalia, possession of drugs, possession of criminal tools, having weapons under disability and carrying a concealed weapon.