LISBON — A Wellsville man already facing charges for alleged threats against Wellsville police and harassing a judge faced more charges Monday for having a loaded gun in his car and failing to follow repeated commands to exit the vehicle.

Steven D. Wright, 45, Main Street, appeared via video for arraignment on the fourth-degree felony charge of improper handling a firearm in a motor vehicle and pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstructing official business.

Columbiana County Municipal Court Judge Kelly Linger handled the arraignments, but both she and county Municipal Court Judge Tim McNicol, who was the judge harassed on social media, recused themselves from the cases against Wright, citing conflicts of interest. The Ohio Supreme Court was contacted and assigned Retired Carroll County Judge John Campbell as a visiting judge to hear the cases.

A preliminary/pretrial hearing was set for 9 a.m. Friday for the new charges and the charges from last week which included two counts of aggravated menacing, a fifth-degree felony, and two counts of telecommunications harassment, a first-degree misdemeanor.

Bond remains at $200,000 cash or surety and Wright was ordered to have no contact with the alleged victims, and to not have any weapons or firearms, if he’s released. He remains in custody.

According to a police affidavit from Patrolman Caden Weekley, the more recent charges alleged that on Feb. 20 at 8:50 p.m., Wellsville Police and SWAT executed a warrant on Wright, ordering him to step out of his vehicle with his hands up multiple times, with Wright allegedly responding “if you breach this vehicle, I am going to defend myself.”

The affidavit said Wright ignored commands to step out of the vehicle and repeatedly stated that “we were there to kill him and if officers breach his vehicle, he is going to defend himself.”

After roughly an hour, he stepped out of the vehicle, was placed under arrest and transported to the county jail.

During an inventory of the vehicle, police found a loaded 9mm handgun that was loaded with 12 rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber, located in the middle of the back seat within arm’s reach.

According to Weekley’s affidavit for the telecommunications harassment charges, officers received a call at 8:28 p.m. Feb. 18 that “Steven Wright posted a video online stating he was going to shoot the Wellsville Police.” Upon watching the video, Weekley wrote that “Steven stated and I quote ‘Judge McNicol and Chief Ed Wilson better get into that court and do right by me. You’re running out of time. You guys can think this is a joke or a bluff I’m a man of my word if I say I’m gonna do something I’m gonna do it.'”

The affidavit by Weekley also said that Steven Wright stated the following: “Once the Wellsville police issue that warrant I’m going to go down to the Wellsville Police Department and we’re gonna have a shootout.”

He also quoted Steven Wright stating, “these cops think nothing is going to happen, your guys are fools to believe that. I’m at the point where I have nothing to lose, nothing. So make peace with your God okay, make peace with your God.”

The affidavits for the aggravated menacing counts also quoted similar statements of Steven Wright allegedly saying he’s going to have a shootout with the cops. That he was going to pull around the back and call them and let them know he’s there, saying “and not one of these cops will come out and try to issue that warrant because they know what’s going to happen.”

In December, Wright lost an appeal he filed with the Seventh District Court of Appeals to challenge an April 30, 2024 judgment by McNicol in county Municipal Court when he was fined $150 for disorderly conduct, amended from menacing. The case stemmed from an incident on Sept. 24, 2022 when he was accused of allegedly following and yelling at a woman who said she was being harassed and was afraid to go outside her apartment because of him.

He claimed there was insufficient evidence, but the Seventh District Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence.

On Dec. 18, 2024, the county Clerk of Courts issued a cost bill to Wright for $1,676 related to the case, with a review hearing set for 2 p.m. Feb. 27, which is Thursday.

According to a previous published story, in 2023, Wright filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Youngstown against Wellsville Police Chief Ed Wilson, two police officers and another employee over his arrest for another disorderly conduct charge related to a sign.

Officers arrested Wright after police received multiple phone calls complaining about him holding up a sign that read “F*** the police” in front of the Wellsville First Christian Church on Main Street when children were coming and going from the church.

He alleged his right to free speech was violated, that he was falsely arrested and that he was denied due process.

The civil lawsuit was eventually settled and dismissed.

mgreier@mojonews.com