WARREN — A Trumbull County grand jury declined to indict John White, who filed to run for Youngstown mayor, on two felony counts he faced for an alleged domestic disturbance with his wife, Youngstown Councilwoman Amber White.

The grand jury Friday voted to “no bill” the charges against White and dismissed them after hearing from three witnesses.

White had been in the Trumbull County jail since June 3 for violating the terms of his bond by allegedly harassing his wife. He was supposed to have a Friday bond hearing, but it was canceled after the grand jury’s decision. White was released Friday from jail.

“Everything is dismissed,” he said. “I’m going to get my life back together. I’m going to beat the mayor like I beat this.”

White was arrested May 2 on felony counts of disrupting public service and domestic violence at a Liberty home he owns with his now-estranged wife after he was accused of causing damage and acting violently toward her, according to Liberty police.

Gabriel Wildman, a county assistant prosecutor, said that Amber White repeatedly said during a June 3 hearing in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court that her husband “never put his hands on me, and, at the end of the day, this is a domestic violence case so that probably had something to do with it. The one charge was a little bit up in the air. He was charged with disrupting public service, which is like breaking a phone or whatever. There was some domestic dispute about that, but ultimately the grand jury makes that decision.”

Wildman said: “It’s a weird one because she wanted him held accountable, but she repeatedly would say he never put his hands on me, he would never hurt me. The underlying domestic (element) was he was mad because he can’t run for mayor or he wants her to run for mayor, so then he throws a crockpot and it was in her general direction. But based on her testimony and things she said, she’s feet away.”

Wildman added: “Domestic violence is causing or attempting to cause physical harm. I can only speculate on what the grand jury did, but obviously there were some things that were probably close calls as far as the facts go.”

At the time of his arrest, John White told Liberty police there was no physical violence.

Amber White called 911 on May 2 to say her husband was angry over an article that day in The Vindicator that stated his eligibility to run as an independent candidate for Youngstown mayor is being questioned. She told police he asked her to run for mayor and when she refused, he became angry and violent — and this wasn’t the first time.

Amber White told police that her husband damaged their Liberty house, including throwing a crockpot with food at her that ended up going through the front window, threw all of their car keys onto the garage roof, grabbed their juvenile son from her and threatened to “burn the house down as well as burn the vehicles.”

Amber White told police her husband grabbed her cellphone and threw it into a watery ditch while she was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher. John White said the phone slipped.

At a June 3 hearing, Judge Sarah Thomas Kovoor revoked John White’s bond, which was 10% of $12,500, for allegedly harassing his wife, who serves as Youngstown’s 7th Ward councilwoman.

In a motion to revoke bond, Wildman wrote that John White continued to violate the conditions of that bond and a temporary protection order by repeatedly calling his wife and accessing her cellphone and deactivating her service.

Girard Municipal Court Judge Jeffrey D. Adler revoked John White’s bond May 7 for having contact with his wife, which is prohibited under the terms of his bond. But Adler didn’t put White in jail after he agreed at a May 14 hearing to have no contact with his wife.

During that court appearance, White waived his rights to a preliminary hearing and had his case bound over to a grand jury. The grand jury decided Friday not toindict him.

Only two days after his appearance in front of Adler, Wildman wrote White showed up at the house of a Youngstown woman asking about his wife and said he would “burn the whole city to the ground before he let somebody take (her) away from him,” and that he’s been chasing her for 15 years and “would never stop.”

Some have alleged White texted his wife May 25 from an unknown number referring to the couple by their nicknames and sent references to her location and what she was doing at the time of the messages, according to Wildman’s motion and screenshots of the messages.

In a May 8 post on Facebook, John White said, “I realize my behavior was inappropriate and unprofessional. I am truly sorry for any discomfort or upset that I may have caused. I am committed to correcting my past discretions and working on becoming a better person. So I will be seeking professional counseling to assist me in learning to be more respectful in my interactions with the public and my personal life. Please accept my heartfelt apology. I am hopeful for the opportunity to rebuild your trust and support.”

White has more than 35 criminal convictions, according to various court documents, with felony convictions including receiving stolen property, aggravated assault, breaking and entering, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

He was sentenced to prison for the latter three convictions.

John White’s eligibility is questioned as it relates to a city charter provision for mayoral candidates.

The provision reads: “The mayor shall be an elector and resident of the city for the five years immediately preceding the mayor’s election, and not less than 30 years of age.”

White registered to vote Feb. 5, 2021.

The Mahoning County Board of Elections ruled four years ago that White wasn’t eligible to run for Youngstown mayor because he violated that provision and he also voted in the Democratic primary after filing as an independent.

It will again be up to the board to determine White’s eligibility when it meets July 8 to certify independent candidates. The board will rely on a legal opinion from city Law Director Lori Shells Simmons.

Tom McCabe, elections board director, said White “is probably not qualified.”

The city’s law department is expected to heavily rely on that 2021 opinion and rule White ineligible.

Meanwhile, Mayor Jamael Tito Brown’s administration plans to hire an outside investigator to determine if Amber White is a legal resident of the 7th Ward. This came after the city law department decided last week that she was a legal resident of the ward.

White showed documentation to the law department that she moved out of her rented Mount Vernon Avenue home in Youngstown to a different residence in the ward.

The residency of White, an independent who started serving a four-year term in January 2024, was brought into question because she and John own the house in Liberty at 1162 Tibbetts Wick Road, where the alleged incident occurred. The two purchased the home March 17, 2022, for $65,000. They rent the Youngstown house on Mount Vernon Avenue.

On May 19, Amber White filed for divorce, child support services and a temporary protection order in Mahoning County Domestic Relations Court.