YOUNGSTOWN — Matthew G. Watts, 39, of Canfield, a former Mahoning County Sheriff’s deputy charged with felony vandalism and misdemeanor criminal trespass for a July 20 incident in which he is accused of breaking glass in a door at the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office, has been indicted on those charges.

If convicted, he could get about 18 months in prison or probation. He also could get time in the Mahoning County jail, which is part of the Fifth Avenue building he is accused of vandalizing.

According to a criminal complaint filed with Youngstown Municipal Court, a deputy working in the reception area of the sheriff’s office saw a man exiting the entrance to the building July 20.

The man walked about 15 feet before turning around and reentering the facility.

The deputy then recognized the man as Watts. The deputy wrote in a report that he was aware Watts was banned from entering the building and was warned that he would be charged with criminal trespass if he did so.

The deputy notified a sergeant that Watts was in the reception area. Watts spoke into the intercom twice at about that time in an agitated voice before leaving the building, the report states.

The deputy then looked at the front door Watts had used to enter the building and found three cracks in it, the report states.

The damage was not there when the deputy opened the doors about three hours earlier, the deputy reported.

About an hour after Watts left the building, deputies returned to the sheriff’s office with Watts in custody, the report states.

In checking Watts’ backpack, deputies found two rocks that were similar to rocks near the entrance to the office, and Watts was charged with felony vandalism and criminal trespass, according to the report.

Watts has been in the county jail since July 20. He was arraigned July 22 and his case was later bound over to a county grand jury.

Chief Deputy William Cappabianca of the sheriff’s office said Wednesday Watts was terminated from his position as a deputy working in the jail Aug. 5, 2019, for interfering with a criminal investigation being conducted by the sheriff’s office and other issues.

There was another incident involving Watts Nov. 8, 2023, at the sheriff’s office that led to Watts being ordered to stay away from the facility. A sheriff’s report states that a deputy on patrol pulled into the lot at the sheriff’s office and saw a man standing near unmarked sheriff’s vehicles on Wood Street.

The deputy learned that the man was Watts, who might have warrants and could be harboring ill feelings toward members of the command staff of the sheriff’s office over no longer having a job at the office, the report states.

Watts was arrested on Fifth Avenue at Commerce Street near the sheriff’s office on a warrant from the Kent Police Department in Portage County.