Staff Reports

LISBON — A March 29 preliminary hearing and pretrial was set in Columbiana County Municipal Court for Joshua B. Petersen, 28, whose addresses are listed on High Street, Leetonia, and Aetna Street, Salem. Peterson is charged with having weapons while under disability, intimidation, obstructing official business, violating a protection order, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and failure to stop after an accident.

On Tuesday, Petersen allegedly had both a .45 caliber semi automatic pistol and a .22 caliber revolver, while he reportedly admitted to Detective Sgt. Steve Walker he is a drug-dependent person using heroin and methamphetamines.

During a standoff with police, Petersen is alleged to have threatened to shoot multiple law enforcement officers and put a gun to his own head while refusing to listen to the commands of officers.

One of the charges is from Nov. 18, 2017, when Petersen is alleged to have been involved in an accident in Salem while driving a vehicle owned by Gail Petersen and leaving the scene. Additional charges are from Jan. 28, when he allegedly came to the home of his mother, who has a protection order against him and took his girlfriend’s vehicle without permission before he crashed it.