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LIBERTY -- A Columbus man is facing charges after an active warrant arrest during a gas station theft call escalated en route to jail.
Joseph Mullins, 23, pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated menacing, theft and resisting arrest in front of Girard Municipal Court Judge Jeffery Adler Tuesday morning. He also appeared on a charge of vandalism.
According to a police report, Liberty police were called to the Belmont Avenue Speedway Monday afternoon for a theft, with dispatchers noting two men stole items from the business and one of the men, Mullins, had committed a theft from the same business earlier that day.
An officer located Mullins near the Interstate 80 overpass a short time later and detained him in handcuffs, noting that he had an unopened can of alcohol and a bottle of Propel.
The report states Mullins said he wasn't at Speedway, which the officer determined to be inaccurate because he was seen in the gas station's security footage. The officer discovered he also had an active warrant through Bazetta Police Department for failure to comply.
The officer took Mullins back to Speedway to return the stolen merchandise, then transported him to the Trumbull County jail, after informing him he would be under arrest.
The report states Mullins became increasingly agitated on their way there, calling the officer names, then later saying, "You lucky I'm in these handcuffs or I'll punch your ass, adding that he was going to break the officer's jaw and have him "living off soups."
The officer noted the threats were all captured on audio.
The report states Mullins later started kicking the cruiser's doors, saying he would tear up the cruiser and that he didn't care about an extra charge, and Howland police were requested to secure him in a hobble apparatus, a restraint tool used by law enforcement to bind a combative subject's legs or ankles.
The officer, once able to inspect his vehicle's interior, discovered the rear driver's side door to be bent at the top and dislodged at the seam, and it was all photographed as part of the report.
Mullins remained in jail as of Tuesday night, and he's being held on $15,000 bond.
He's set to appear back in court Aug. 5, court records show.