LISBON — A Wellsville man accused of threatening to get in a shootout with police is now facing a federal charge, with local charges against him dismissed.

Steven D. Wright, 45, Main Street, pleaded not guilty Thursday in federal court to transmitting a threatening interstate communication, a charge that resulted from an indictment issued by a federal grand jury.

He’s currently detained at the Mahoning County Justice Center while remanded into the custody of U.S. Marshals, with a detention hearing scheduled for 10 a.m. April 9.

His case was assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Bridget Meehan Brennan of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District in Cleveland. A final pretrial hearing was set for May 14 and a jury trial was set for May 27, both in Cleveland.

The indictment alleges that Wright “did knowingly and willfully transmit in interstate and foreign commerce a communication containing a threat to injure the person of another, to wit, to get in a shootout with police officers.”

Wright had been charged in Columbiana County Municipal Court 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.

The cases had been bound over to the county grand jury, but on Thursday, the special prosecutor assigned to the case, Jeffrey Jakmides, filed a motion to dismiss the cases in county Common Pleas Court due to the federal indictment.

During a preliminary hearing in county Municipal Court in February, Wellsville Police Patrolman Aaron 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.”

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.