LISBON — Former police officer Matthew Elser, accused of allegedly making threats against a judge, the prosecutor’s office and three others, was recently ordered hospitalized after being found not competent to stand trial.

Elser, 45, Market Street, Columbiana, appeared this week in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court for a competency hearing in the custody of sheriff’s deputies and accompanied by his appointed defense attorney, Rhys Cartwright-Jones. The state was represented by Ravenna attorney Edward Czopur, assigned as special prosecutor for the case

Retired Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court Judge Edward O’Farrell found that Elser was not competent, noting that he was not capable of understanding the nature and objective of the legal proceedings against him and not capable of assisting in his defense of the criminal charges.

O’Farrell also found a reasonable probability that the defendant can be restored to competency to stand trial within the one-year time period allowed by law.

He found the least restrictive alternative consistent with public safety and the defendant’s needs related to restoration was inpatient psychiatric hospitalization at Heartland Behavioral Healthcare in Massillon.

He also ordered a sanity evaluation of Elser by the Forensic Psychiatric Center of Northeast Ohio.

O’Farrell was assigned by the Ohio Supreme Court to handle the case due to conflicts cited by Common Pleas Court Judges Scott Washam and Megan Bickerton. The Columbiana County Prosecutor’s Office also cited a conflict, resulting in Czopur’s appointment as special prosecutor.

Elser was in the custody of sheriff’s deputies and remains jailed under a $100,000 cash or surety bond until he’s taken to Massillon.

Charges against Elser include one count third-degree felony intimidation, four counts of third-degree felony retaliation, one count third-degree felony intimidation of an attorney, victim or witness in a criminal case, and misdemeanors of five counts telecommunications harassment, five counts aggravated menacing, and one count unlawful restraint.

According to the indictment, the unlawful restraint charge dates back to Oct. 10, 2024 when Elser allegedly restrained a woman of her liberty at a house in Columbiana. An affidavit filed in county Municipal Court regarding the incident alleged that he was drunk and throwing the woman’s phone, restricting her from getting up off of the couch by standing over her. He also allegedly grabbed her phone and threw it, breaking a window, and in order to escape she had to allegedly slap him. When she tried to regain control of her phone, he wouldn’t give it back and she fled to a neighbor’s house to call police.

That case had been pending in county Municipal Court since then and on June 18 this year, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest, with the bond reset to $25,000 cash or surety after his original bond was revoked because he allegedly violated the terms.

On June 24, the victim in that case came to the police station in Columbiana to report receiving multiple unwanted phone calls from Elser. The police affidavit noted that “the victim states that in these messages the defendant threatened to kill her, her family members, and the judge and prosecutor of his case.” At that time, one count of misdemeanor telecommunications harassment was filed. The judge in question was county Municipal Court Judge Tim McNicol.

County Prosecutor Vito Abruzzino confirmed that Elser previously worked as a police officer for the East Palestine Police Department and briefly with the Perry Township Police Department.

Most of the charges stem from June 24, although there were two charges from June 25 and the one from Oct. 10. Besides allegedly knowingly causing McNicol to believe he would be harmed, Elser also allegedly knowingly caused the Columbiana County Prosecutor’s Office to believe he would cause harm to the county Prosecutor’s Office or property of the county Prosecutor’s Office. He also allegedly threatened the victim from the first case and two others.