Prisoner pleads not guilty to assaulting bailiffs in escape attempt

LISBON -- The prisoner accused of assaulting two security bailiffs in an escape attempt from the Columbiana County courthouse after receiving a one-year prison term returned Friday for arraignment on several charges related to the Sept. 14 attack.

Timothy J. Reaggle, 21, of Y & O Road, Wellsville, entered pleas of not guilty to two counts of felonious assault, a second-degree felony, and single counts of third-degree felony escape, fourth-degree felony inducing panic and misdemeanor resisting arrest. A pretrial is now set for 1:30 p.m. Nov. 20, with Reaggle remaining at the county jail for now.

According to county Prosecutor Vito Abruzzino, if convicted and given maximum consecutive sentences, Reaggle could face 26 and a half years in prison for his actions during the attack, on top of the one-year sentence he's already serving for a previous case.

Abruzzino commented that the act of violence is a bad thing, add on the additional fact that it's two officers just doing their jobs makes it more severe.

Reaggle appeared in the custody of two deputy sheriffs, wearing handcuffs attached to a belly chain around his waist and shackles around his ankles dressed in jailhouse orange as he entered the courtroom at Common Pleas Court.

His bond in this case is $1 million cash or surety, even though his current prison term from the previous case won't be done until sometime in August 2027. Deputies transported him from the Toledo Correctional Institution on Thursday back to the Columbiana County Jail, serving him with the secret indictment.

According to the indictment , he did knowingly cause serious physical harm to security bailiffs Steve Boyd and Keith Thorn, also known as Martin Thorn, on the second floor of the courthouse, broke detention, induced panic and resisted arrest when he was tased and taken into custody and prevented from escaping out the courthouse doors on the first floor.

During the hearing Friday, he was accompanied by his court-appointed defense attorney, Joe King. The state was represented by Abruzzino and county Chief Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Weikart.

Since the security bailiffs who were attacked are employees of Common Pleas Court, both Common Pleas Court Judges Megan Bickerton and Scott Washam recused themselves from hearing the new case due to an obvious conflict.

Retired Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Andrew Logan was assigned to the case by the Ohio Supreme Court and handled the arraignment and will handle the case until its completion.

Both Boyd and Thorn, who both suffered injuries which sent them to hospitals, have since returned to work and both were on the second floor when Reaggle was brought up on the elevator, with Boyd inside the courtroom. Another security bailiff was also in the courtroom for extra security.

No family members were present in the courtroom. According to a sheriff's report claiming fraud at 8:23 p.m. Thursday, a family member at the Y & O Road address for Reaggle in Madison Township reported receiving a call from a man claiming to be a Sgt. Stephen Alovero from the Columbiana County jail who said he needed $940 to put an ankle monitor on Reaggle so he could be released from jail. The family member paid the money by Pay Card One and was told by jail staff that they do not have any staff by the name Sgt. Alovero or release inmates on ankle monitors.

On Sept. 14, Reaggle had been out on bond when he appeared for a sentencing hearing before Washam for a 2025 incident and was sentenced to one year in prison for a lesser offense of third-degree felony aggravated burglary (originally a first-degree felony), a lesser offense of fourth-degree felony aggravated assault (originally second-degree felonious assault), a lesser offense of misdemeanor failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer (originally a felony), and misdemeanors of aggravated menacing and two counts of assault.

When the hearing was over, he was handcuffed in the front by Thorn and was crying as he was escorted out of the courtroom.

According to witnesses, as Thorn was taking him down the hallway to be placed in a holding cell, Reaggle broke the handcuffs, turned around and punched Thorn, knocking him to the floor, then ran full speed down the hall, knocking Boyd down and running past the elevator to the door and into the stairwell.

Deputy Sheriff Nick Rusyn chased after Reaggle down the steps trying to grab him, then Reaggle was met by Deputy Sheriff Coltan Vollnogle and Sheriff's Office Detective Jesse Smith, Director of the Drug Task Force, at the bottom of the steps.

Vollnogle said he broke free from them and was tased by Rusyn next to the security station on the first floor, going down the steps to the doors and being wrestled into custody where he was again handcuffed, taken outside and transported to the county jail. When he was running down the steps, Vollnogle could see the original handcuffs were broken. The whole thing was caught on video and ended up all over social media.

Multiple deputies can be inside the courthouse at any given time, with some transporting prisoners or going to the sheriff's office in the basement. One deputy mans the security station/metal detector on the first floor, checking visitors as they enter the courthouse. Deputies also man the entrances at the Municipal Court/Title Department building and the juvenile court building. The security bailiffs on the second floor are employed by Common Pleas Court and all previously worked as police officers or deputies.

For the other case, Reaggle entered a guilty plea in July for assaulting three people on Feb. 14, 2025 in St. Clair Township, first headbutting a woman in the face after she told him to leave, then tackling and assaulting a man outside the residence. Another man reported that when Reaggle first came into the residence and began fighting with everyone, he held a knife to the man's neck, threatening him. He also fled from police.