We thought (and hoped) we’d seen the last of Steve Burns in our Valley.

Alas, we were mistaken.

The embattled former CEO of Lordstown Motors Corp., who abruptly exited the startup company in 2021, last week just as abruptly swept back into the troubled company that now is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

A regulatory filing Friday indicated that Steve Burns’ new company, Delaware-based LAS Capital, signed a $10 million purchase agreement for assets related to the “design, production and sale of electric light duty vehicles” in the commercial fleet market.

Burns, undeniably, was the idea guy behind bringing a fledgling electric pickup truck maker to Lordstown and setting up shop in the former General Motors assembly plant.

But not all of his ideas proved beneficial to the company.

Burns was at the company’s helm as CEO when a damning report brought to light that Lordstown Motors had misled investors and the public about the number of confirmed orders it had for the Endurance pickup truck.

After this and other unfortunate blunders, the company’s board of directors eventually paid Burns $750,000 in June 2021 to go away. Later that year, Burns started unloading shares of stock in the company and took away a total of more than $66 million.

He had been awarded 46.3 million shares of common stock in the company when it merged with New York-based DiamondPeak Holdings Corp., a special purpose acquisition, or “blank-check” company in August 2020 to become a publicly traded company.

After Burns’ exodus, the company faced an uphill battle in attempting to overcome its serious image problems. Ultimately, it became apparent the truck maker would not be able to develop and grow, as many — including this newspaper’s editorial board — had sincerely hoped.

The company’s problems did not end.

Under the new leadership, Lordstown Motors Corp. sold the plant to global electronics and technology firm Foxconn for $230 million in May 2022 and shifted away from manufacturing toward engineering and developing electric vehicles.

The relationship with Foxconn soured, however, and dueling lawsuits ultimately were filed between the two companies.

Lordstown Motors filed for Chapter 11 protection June 27. During the course of the case, the company fought off Foxconn’s attempt to either dismiss the bankruptcy case or convert it to Chapter 7 liquidation. A judge’s ruling allowed Lordstown Motors to continue in Chapter 11 and market the assets for sale.

Lordstown Motors announced late Friday afternoon it and LAS (short for land, air and sea) Capital, where Burns is the majority equity holder, signed the purchase agreement for assets that could include the battery pack module and hub motor lines for Lordstown Motors’ truck, the Endurance.

The agreement must be approved in U.S. bankruptcy court. A sale hearing is scheduled for Oct. 18.

While some may describe Burns’ actions as the signs of a good businessman, to us they simply represent a man who enriched himself as others lost — investors lost enormous amounts of capital, local workers lost their jobs and, once again, the Valley lost an opportunity and was disillusioned and, once again, lost hope.

Make no mistake, the EV auto company that we are embarrassed to say bears a community name from our Valley, likely will be no more. But as it folds, once again, Burns stands to make more money off of it.

It’s time for Mr. Burns to finish this process quickly and ride off into the sunset, this time for good.

editorial@vindy.com