MORRISTOWN Julie Hinds with the Ohio Liquor Control agency expounded Sunday on just what led to the most recent arrest of Matt Coffland during the Friday night portion of Jamboree in the Hills.
According to Hinds, the report filed states that Coffland allegedly "threw a bottle at the (liquor control) agent, striking him with it."
Hinds noted the agent did not receive medical attention because of the incident.
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MATT?COFFLAND
Coffland earlier stated that liquor control agents came and took him from his family's tarp on the grounds at Jamboree on Friday, let him through the crowd backstage where he was handcuffed and turned over to the Belmont County Sheriff's Department for processing.
He was charged with assault and disorderly conduct. His bail, which was reportedly in excess of $5,000, was posted and Coffland was out by 2 a.m. early Saturday.
This incident came on the heels of the Tiger Pub owner and Belmont County Commissioner being the talk of conversation throughout the week after it came to light that he and his son were both being charged with three misdemeanor counts of obstruction by Ohio Liquor Control stemming from an April 1 late-night visit by agents at the Tiger Pub.
Both Cofflands have stated that the only thing they did during the inspection was announce over the PA system that the agents were present.
The elder Coffland stated that since it was basically closing time anyway, he felt it was a good opportunity to get everyone out the door, especially given liquor control agents failed to identify themselves or their stated purpose before asking patrons for identification.
The case was originally heard in front of John Vavra in Belmont County's Eastern Division Court.
But given Coffland's position with the county, Vavra recused himself.
Instead, the case, which has a pretrial conference slated for 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 31, will be heard in front of Monroe County Judge James Peters with Tom Hampton serving as special prosecutor.
Early Saturday, Coffland mentioned he felt the timing of these incidents was rather suspicious. Coffland is up for re-election and will face off against independent candidates Doug Longenette and Jerry Echemann in the fall.
Coffland did make a point not to single out either candidate or infer either had anything to do with either incident.
However, Longenette wanted to make sure he wasn't being accused of having a hand in the events of Friday night, or prior to.
In an emailed statement to the The Times Leader, Longenette stated that:
"The great people of Belmont County will have the final say and can determine who they feel is most qualified to lead Belmont County for the next 4 years. Our campaign is focused solely on educating Belmont County Voters that I am the most qualified for the job. One of my goals is to restore professionalism, respect, confidence and good business sense in the position of County Commissioner. The seat is the peoples' seat and I intend to be responsive and respectful of it."
Times Leader Sports Editor Seth Staskey contributed to this article.
Hughes may be reached at mhughes@timesleaderonline.com
