Charges against Lordstown Councilman Zoldan dropped
By Ed Runyan
NILES
The Niles prosecutor who handled a felony-level charge filed against a Lordstown councilman last year for reportedly turning off the power to the village wind turbines has dropped the charge.
Terry Swauger, Niles prosecutor, dropped the charge Jan. 13 against Stanley Zoldan, 71, of Brunstetter Road, on the condition that Zoldan pay court costs of $43, which Zoldan did.
The charge, disrupting public services, was a fourth-degree felony, punishable by up to 18 months in prison.
Swauger said Tuesday that after he had reviewed everything, “I didn’t feel there was enough to prove that a criminal act had occurred. I just felt it was best to dismiss the charge.”
Swauger explained that cutting off the power to a government building would qualify as disrupting public services, but he didn’t feel that cutting off power to wind turbines rose to that level.
The case, originally filed in Newton Falls Municipal Court last spring, was transferred to Niles Municipal Court to avoid a potential conflict of interest.
Police said Zoldan turned off the power to the two turbines near the village administration building and police department on Salt Springs Road.
The power switch is on an electrical box on the outside of the village administration building.
Zoldan said he turned off the power because the turbines had not yet received an electrical inspection.
Arno Hill, Lordstown mayor, said the turbines were inspected shortly after the incident, and the turbines have been running ever since.
In an interview this week, Zoldan admitted he turned the power off to the turbines but said he did it because of the possibility that someone could have been electrocuted if the electrical work had been done improperly.
He also provided The Vindicator with a copy of an email written April 6, 2011, by Atty. Paul Dutton, the village’s legal counsel, in which Dutton told village officials the turbines “should not have been accepted for public use and made operational until such time as all final inspections (including the electrical and foundation inspections) were completed and submitted in proper form to the Village.”