Driver pleads not guilty to charges in bomb scare

Staff report

LISBON

The driver who stopped traffic on state Route 11 on July 4 pleaded not guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia, speeding and obstructing official business Tuesday in Municipal Court here.

Sergiy Matirniy of Brooklyn, N.Y., is still in the Columbiana County Jail. His bond is set at $50,000.

Matirniy refused to give Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers his driver’s license and registration when he was pulled over for speeding just south of the Lisbon exit on state Route 11.

His behavior coupled with police noticing technical drawings, gasoline, a long saw, machete and other suspicious items in the Mitsubishi Eclipse he was driving prompted authorities to call the Youngstown bomb squad. The bomb squad did not find any explosives in the car, and the highway was reopened after two hours.

Matirniy has a Ukrainian passport and an address in Florida. He has requested a lawyer, said Donald Humphrey Jr., Columbiana county assistant prosecutor.