2 charged in scuffle with utility workers

The line is part of the
national electrical grid.

LISBON — A couple is facing criminal charges after a scuffle with Columbiana County Sheriff’s deputies while Ohio Edison Co. workers were cutting trees.

Wayne Wilson, 51, of 37093 state Route 30, is charged with disorderly conduct, and his live-in girlfriend, Catherine Woodard, 59, is charged with resisting arrest.

Wilson had been trying to stop Ohio Edison from removing about 40 blue spruce trees from his property.

In a lawsuit filed in county common pleas court last year, Wilson said he had planted the trees from 1985 through 1987.

The trees, which were planted in two rows, were designed to provide privacy and beauty and increase the value of the property, Wilson said in the lawsuit.

In March 2007, Ohio Edison asked Wilson to sign an authorization form to allow the company to cut down the trees.

The company has a new policy of clear-cutting trees and brush on easements.

Wilson even contacted his congressman. An aide to U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson of St. Clairsville, D-6th, told Wayne Wilson that the trees were to be cut in December.

Wayne Wilson sought a temporary restraining order in common pleas court. Judge C. Ashley Pike ruled that Ohio Edison had the right to remove the trees, but asked the company to hold off until the full case was heard.

But the trees were cut down Wednesday. The 345,000-volt line is a substantial line that is part of the national power grid.

Mark Durbin, a spokesman for Ohio Edison, on Thursday quoted Judge Pike’s ruling that the company had the right to cut the trees.

Durbin said the company called the sheriff’s office to protect the safety of its workers.

Wayne Wilson was charged after he became agitated. Woodard was arrested during Wilson’s arrest, according to deputies.