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County inmate charged with making false alarms

LISBON — A county jail inmate who allegedly made others believe he had swallowed pieces of razor blades while in custody on Christmas Eve has been charged with making false alarms.

Employees of GEO Corrections and Detention LLC, which currently operates the county jail, reported to the sheriff’s office at 6:26 p.m. Sunday, James V. Tressler II, 30, West Main Street, East Palestine, allegedly swallowed pieces of razor blades. They requested a deputy come down and have him transported to an emergency room.

According to the nurse on duty at the jail, Laurel Levanduski, Tressler had begun eating pieces of razor blades just after 1 p.m. and was in the detox cell at the time.

Lt. Allan D. Young met with Tressler, who claimed he obtained a razor on Dec. 20 so he could tear it apart, break the blades and swallow the pieces. He said he began between 1 and 2 p.m. and the last time he ingested any was around 5 p.m. He also claimed two fellow inmates saw him swallow the last pieces.

He was transported by EMT to Salem Regional Medical Center, where the staff was informed what may have happened. However, medical personnel could not find any evidence of metal inside Tressler’s body. A nurse stated they ran x-rays and CT scans, but no metallic substances were found.

Young reportedly interviewed another inmate, Aaron Pearson, on Wednesday, who said Tressler had called him over, complained of being depressed, showed him a small piece of a razor blade and placed it into his mouth. Pearson said Tressler then ran his tongue around the outside of his teeth to show he had swallowed it. Pearson told Young he and other inmates had similar concerns about what had happened.

A Jan. 4 pretrial was scheduled for Tressler in Columbiana County Municipal Court, where he appeared for arraignment on the charge Thursday.

Tressler was in the county jail serving part of his sentence for a charge of inducing panic for a bomb threat made at the Huntington Bank in East Palestine on Sept. 28. Tressler had pleaded no contest to that charge on Dec. 7, was credited with 71 days in jail and ordered to serve an additional 34 days.

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