LISBON — Cases against a Wellsville man accused of threatening and harassing Wellsville police and a judge, having a loaded gun in his car and failing to follow police commands were bound over to the Columbiana County Grand Jury.

Steven D. Wright, 45, Main Street, appeared Friday in county Municipal Court with his defense attorney Joe King while in the custody of a deputy sheriff.

After a brief hearing, retired Carroll County Judge John Campbell found probable cause to send both felony cases to the grand jury for consideration and also agreed to send the two misdemeanor cases, which Special Prosecutor Jeffrey Jakmides and King both indicated was standard practice to keep everything together.

Wright’s bond of $200,000 cash or surety was continued.

Wright was charged with fourth-degree felony improper handling a firearm in a motor vehicle, two counts fifth-degree felony aggravated menacing, and misdemeanors of obstructing official business and two counts of telecommunications harassment.

Jakmides called Wellsville Police Patrolman Aaron Yourex as his only witness for the preliminary hearing held for the felony counts.

Yourex testified that the police department on Feb. 18 received a call about an alarming video posted on Facebook by Steven Wright, with Yourex identifying him in the courtroom. In the video, he said Wright stated that if a warrant was put out for his arrest, he would have a shootout with the cops. He also commented that the cops think it’s going to blow over, but he has nothing to lose and said “make peace with your God.”

Jakmides noted that added an element of seriousness to what was said.

According to Yourex, Wright also said in the video that he “figured out what I’m going to do to avoid any innocent casualties.”

On the video, Wright talked about how he was going to pull behind the police station and it’ll go down on Faceback Live.

Jakmides asked if what Wright was saying caused him to think he could be harmed.

“It was alarming to everybody at the police department,” Yourex said.

According to his testimony, Wright’s vehicle is usually parked on Main Street, near Ninth Street, about 3 minutes from the police department.

When police officers went to find him, and asked him to exit his vehicle, he allegedly told them they would have to kill him, then after about an hour, he came out. During a search of his vehicle, a 9 mm handgun was found that would have been within his reach from where he had been sitting, loaded with hollow point bullets and one in the chamber.

During questioning by King, Yourex said the video was seen on Feb. 18 and they found him sitting in his vehicle on Feb. 20. King asked about the car itself and where the gun was found, with Yourex indicating the gun was on the middle section of the back seat and the front seats were split.

“The facts appear to be undisputed and indisputable,” Jakmides said.

King didn’t put Wright on the stand and offered no evidence, but did tell the judge what the testimony showed for the aggravated menacing charge was a misdemeanor, not a felony. He asked the court not bind over the case for the aggravated menacing.

Campbell, though, was in agreement with the prosecution.

He was assigned to oversee the case after Columbiana County Municipal Court Judges Kelly Linger and Tim McNicol recused themselves, citing a conflict of interest. McNicol was the judge allegedly harassed on social media by Wright.

Jakmides was appointed as special prosecutor after Columbiana County Prosecutor Vito Abruzzino cited a substantial conflict of interest because the county prosecutor is the statutory counsel for one of the alleged victims in the offense.