By Gary Ogle and Krystal Smalley
gogle@wbocwqel.com; ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Monday morning’s routine arraignments for Crawford County Common Pleas Court were anything but routine.
Individuals facing felony charges and incarcerated at the time of their arraignments are typically arraigned via video feed between the Common Pleas courtroom and the Crawford County Justice Center. Thomas Cunningham was first on the schedule for such arraignments and it immediately became apparent he was not in a good mood when he greeted Judge Sean Leuthold with a obscenity.
The judge noted for the record he would not hold Cunningham in contempt as he typically might, and instead entered pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity on a charge of second-degree felony burglary.
Leuthold also appointed Rolf Whitney to represent Cunningham who is being held at the jail on $500,000 bond.
When deputies tried to escort Cunningham from the room where arraignments were being conducted back to his cell, he again swore at the deputy assisting him, spit at the deputy and became involved in a physical confrontation. The brief scuffle lasted just seconds before four deputies gained control of Cunningham and forcibly took him from the room uninjured.
None of the deputies nor Cunningham appeared to have been injured in the incident that was captured on the video.
Cunningham’s attorney returned to Common Pleas Court later that afternoon to address his client’s case with the judge. Leuthold stated that Cunningham had shown “some signs of possible mental illness” earlier that day and believed it was in everyone’s interest to not have Cunningham transported from the jail.
Leuthold, who already received a recommendation from a psychiatrist on Cunningham’s condition that concluded Cunningham was dangerous and potentially homicidal, ordered him transferred to Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare in Columbus for further observation.
Eleven other individuals were arraigned on felony charges. They are shown below along with the charges they face and bonds in each case.
Thomas Cunningham: F2 burglary ($500,000); Stanley Evans: F3 domestic violence, ($250,000); Kevin Johnson: F4 domestic violence, ($250,000); Russell Gardner: F5 permitting drug abuse, F5 drug possession, F5 drug trafficking, ($250,000); Shane Brady: F5 drug possession, F5 permitting drug abuse; Ashley Singer: F5 drug possession (heroin), ($100,000); Gary Rogers, F5 drug possession (oxycodone), ($100,000); Jessica Wade, F5 drug possession (oxycodone), ($100,000); Wesley Steele, F5 escape, two counts M2 criminal damaging, M1 assault, ($250,000); Brooke Castle, F5 drug possession (heroin), $50,000; Neil Sargent, F5 drug possession (heroin), ($50,000); Charles Gardner, F5 drug possession (heroin), F5 drug abuse, F3 drug trafficking, ($500,000).