BUCYRUS—Aaron Stratton, 32, of Bucyrus, pleaded guilty in Crawford County Common Pleas Court one count of obstructing official business, a felony of the fifth degree punishable with up to 12 months in prison. One charge of aggravated menacing and one charge of using weapons while intoxicated, both misdemeanor charges were dismissed.
In an agreed plea negotiation, Stratton was accepted into the Prosecutor’s Intervention In Lieu Of Conviction Program. If Stratton completes the program, the felony charge will be dismissed.
Stratton must complete drug and alcohol assessment and any follow-up treatment. He agreed to forfeit the firearm involved in the incident.
Crawford County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold was about to agree to the ILC when defense attorney Tani Eyer asked the court to return the firearm to Stratton at the completion of the program. Eyer said she had no problem with the gun remaining in police custody until the conclusion of the case.
Judge Leuthold reiterated to Eyer that the plea clearly included the forfeiture of the firearm. He did agree to hear arguments from the state and the defense on what to do with the firearm.
Prosecutor Matt Crall told the court that on June 24th, Stratton, who is a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, had an argument with his girlfriend and called the police. He said he was outside of his garage, and the weapon was inside the garage.
However, when police arrived, they found Stratton hiding behind a truck hiding his hands. Officers asked him what was going on, and he told officers the gun was in his hand. They asked him to place the gun on the ground, and he did not but continued talking to a friend on his cell phone. His phone eventually died, and officers worked to diffuse the situation. At one point, officers offered one of their cell phones to use. When Stratton was distracted, officers tasered him, took the weapon, and took him into custody. Crall asserted that the forfeiture of the firearm was part of the negotiation to participate in the ILC program.
Crawford County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold told the parties that the ILC program was designed to help people with problems. “This Court has great respect for Veterans, and I’m happy to go along with this negotiation,” Leuthold said.
Regarding the return of the firearm, he denied the request: “This was a very dangerous situation but fortunately the police diffused it. Under these circumstances, I am not going to return a weapon that was basically a big part of this case back to the defendant (or family). He had the weapon in his hand, and he was intoxicated,” Leuthold said.