A recent complaint filed by the Mahoning County (Ohio)  Bar Association seeks an interim suspension on impairment grounds

Respondent is presently being held in the Lawrence County Jail in New Castle, Pennsylvania, on multiple felony and misdemeanor criminal charges resulting from a course of conduct in which he engaged on January 1, 2022.

According to the New Castle Police Department, on that date, commencing at approximately 7:15 a.m., Respondent unlawfully entered the City of New Castle’s main fire station  through an overhead door which was already damaged from an unrelated previous incident.

Respondent’s conduct inside the fire station that morning was recorded on video surveillance and observed in part by three on-duty firefighters.

Respondent walked around the fire station picking up various tools.

Respondent then did substantial additional damage to the already damaged overhead door with a hammer and an axe, and used the axe to sever the cable which raised and lowered the door.

Respondent then awakened firefighters who were sleeping in the station’s living quarters, and told them he was ready for the “coming siege.”

A firefighter noticed that Respondent was holding a screwdriver, and asked Respondent why he had armed himself with the tool. Respondent revealed a holstered firearm that had previously been concealed by his jacket, and responded “so I don’t have to use this.”

Respondent was escorted out of the station by the firefighters and left the premises before law enforcement arrived.

At approximately 8:08 a.m. the same morning, law enforcement officers responded to an alarm call at the Lawrence County Community Action Partnership building on Grant Street, also in New Castle, a short distance away from the fire station.

The officers found an unsecured door, two spent shell casings, and two bullet holes in a ceiling near a siren speaker.

The officers’ later review of a security video from this location revealed that Respondent was present at this location, and fired several shots at the alarm system.

After officers had responded the second crime scene, the Lawrence County 911 center received a call about a suspect, later identified as Respondent, attempting unsuccessfully to break into the McGonagle Ambulance station on North Jefferson Street.

He was located

When confronted by officers, Respondent got out of the vehicle, refused to comply with their commands, and identified himself as an attorney from Ohio. After he failed to comply with directives from officers, Respondent was shot twice with “less-lethal sponge rounds” and taken into custody. A loaded 9mm handgun was recovered from his vehicle.

He is held on multiple charges and also has an Ohio warrant for trespassing

Upon arrival at the cemetery, officers located Respondent near a vehicle which appeared to be stuck on a log. He was observed “bending small trees into the ground and interlocking them.”

Respondent declined the officers’ request that he come up a hill to their location, and he was eventually arrested for criminal trespass.

Drug charges are also pending in Ohio. (Mike Frisch)