LISBON — An additional charge of aggravated burglary was filed Thursday against the man accused of breaking into the New Waterford home of state Rep. Monica Robb Blasdel and Seventh District Court of Appeals Judge Carol Robb, with a preliminary hearing set for 1 p.m. July 24.

Nathan A. Johnson, 29, West Railroad Street, Columbiana, appeared for arraignment via video Thursday before Columbiana County Municipal Court Judge Kelly Linger, who set bond at $500,000 cash or surety.

County Assistant Prosecutor Isabella Simon indicated the seriousness of the offense required the need for the high bond, but also indicated a need for monitoring in case he would post bond for release from jail. Linger ordered as part of the bond that he’s to have no contact of any means with any of the victims and he’s prohibited from having any weapons or firearms. If he’s released, she ordered GPS monitoring be required.

With the new charge came new information about what happened at the Hatcher Road property in Unity Township Wednesday afternoon.

According to the affidavit filed by county sheriff’s office Detective Jen Calko regarding the first-degree felony aggravated burglary charge, the victim identified as C.R.B. II said a man he wasn’t familiar with, later identified as Johnson, pulled into his drive at a fast rate of speed and exited his truck, approaching the male victim in an aggressive manner. The affidavit said Johnson demanded to know where the homeowners were.

“The defendant assaulted the victim by punching him in the head and knocking him to the ground,” the affidavit said.

Eventually the defendant, Johnson, began to walk away from the residence, and “then came back in an aggressive manner again, picked a chair up and threw it through the front door window, breaking it and reaching through the broken glass to unlock the door to gain entry. The defendant then entered the residence without permission. There was an 8-year-old child locked in a room just inside the main door,” the affidavit said.

Johnson was also arraigned on a fourth-degree felony charge of disrupting public services related to the incident. The affidavit for that charge again identified the victim as C.R.B. II and said Johnson “picked up a wooden chair, broke through a glass door on the west side of the residence, and then entered the residence, and stole the victim’s cell phone out of his hand as he was calling 911, then left the residence with the victim’s cell phone.”

C.R.B. II was listed with a birthdate the same as the one for former state Rep. Chuck Blasdel, husband of state Rep. Monica Robb Blasdel. His name was also listed on the sheriff’s report.

When Linger was talking to Johnson about the disrupting public service charge and asked if he saw a copy of it, he said “I didn’t really understand it though.” She then read the charge to him which said no person may, purposely by any means or knowingly by damaging or tampering with any property, substantially impair the ability of police officers, firefighters, rescue personnel, emergency medical services personnel or emergency facility personnel to respond to an emergency or to protect and preserve any person or property from serious physical harm.

She again asked if he saw a copy of the charge and he said yes.

During arraignment, Johnson entered a guilty plea to two traffic charges from July 15 for failure to stop after an accident and traffic control devices. Sentencing on the traffic counts will take place the same day as the preliminary hearing for the felony charges at 1 p.m. July 24 before Judge Tim McNicol.

When asked if he had anything to say after the plea, Johnson said “I apologize.”

He also said he planned to hire private legal counsel.

The incident occurred at the residence where Robb Blasdel lives with her family. Her family includes her husband, children, her mother Judge Carol Robb and her father Ken.

“On Tuesday, July 15, 2025, there was an incident at our home, and unfortunately members of my family were present. We want to commend the Columbiana County Sheriff’s Department, dispatchers, and local police departments who promptly responded and professionally managed the situation. The alleged perpetrator is currently in custody and our family is safe,” Robb Blasdel, R-New Waterford, said in a written statement issued Wednesday.

According to the call log for the sheriff’s report, East Palestine police transferred a 911 call to the sheriff’s office at 3:39 p.m. Wednesday from a male not making sense, from a phone for Nathan Johnson, who “just kept saying send help to Judge Robb’s house and kept saying she took his fiance.” Robb Blasdel was not home but reported receiving a text from her husband that said to send police. At 4:03 p.m., there was a notation about a call from Robb Blasdel that she evacuated but her husband was still there and the male subject busted down the door and took his cell phone. According to the call log, Johnson may have gone to another residence on Hatcher Road and forced his way in looking for a woman. Other notations indicated that Chuck Blasdel was okay.

The incident remains under investigation.