Ohio state Rep. Bob Young arrested for second time in last two months

Ohio Republican state Rep. Bob Young was arrested for the second time in two months Monday night after he allegedly violated a protection order stemming from his first arrest on domestic violence charges, according to Summit County Jail records.

The Republican legislator is being held in Summit County jail on a misdemeanor charge of “recklessly” violating a protection order, according to the Barberton Municipal Court.

To recap, he’s now facing three total charges. They are: domestic violence, assault and violating a protection order. All three are first-degree misdemeanors.

Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Young Sunday after Summit County filed a warrant Saturday.

Young was found at his residence in Magnolia and was emotional, according to TCSO. The county doesn’t have body cameras. He was taken into custody by TCSO, and hours later, SCSO picked him up.

“As of this morning, just a few hours ago, he was still in our jail,” said Summit County Sheriff’s Office Inspector Bill Holland.

Young was arrested and charged with two of the misdemeanors in July. One for domestic violence against his wife and the other for assault against his brother. In August, the lawmaker pleaded not guilty.

Both his wife and brother have restraining orders against him — which means no contact.

The most recent warrant for Young’s arrest was issued after he broke the protection order by calling one of the individuals listed on it, Holland said.

Because the investigation is ongoing, Holland could not share what was in the calls or messages. But once he learned that Young broke the restraining order, his team worked across counties to locate Young.

“Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for people to do this,” Holland said about how frequently people with active restraining orders break them. “Again, they know the ramifications.”

OCJ/WEWS reached out to Young and his attorney numerous times but did not get a response.

Despite calls for him to resign, including from Republican House Speaker Jason Stephens, Young has refused.

In July, he issued a statement that said the recent stress he was under caused him to act poorly. Young said that his actions weren’t criminal but were “inappropriate and out of character.” He said he had taken steps to seek counseling voluntarily in order to “address some of the issues that led to this incident.”

In witness statements from the original incident, a friend of Young’s wife said the lawmaker also hit her — but the friend was more concerned about the wife.

“I was fearful for her ’cause I know he’s abused her a lot over the years,” the friend said.

Back in 2020, police reports show deputies were called on Young for a physical domestic disturbance. No charges were filed then.

Young is currently set for a pretrial hearing on the original two charges on Thursday at 1 p.m. He’s pleaded not guilty to those charges.

The alleged assault

According to a Summit County Sheriff’s Office report, Young was arguing with a friend at his home around 1 a.m. on July 7 when his wife Tina stuck her hand up in front of his face to “stop him from yelling.” The lawmaker then grabbed her arm and struck her face with an open hand during the argument, the report states. She threatened to call the police, but Young took her phone and threw it into the pool.

Witness accounts provide more insight into what potentially happened to start the fight. One statement, in particular, comes from a woman who allegedly caught Young having an affair with a colleague and confronted both him and the supposed mistress.

OCJ/WEWS had heard of the affair allegation in July and tried to ask Young’s attorney John Greven about it, which he ignored.

One hour later, Young’s wife arrived at the home of her brother-in-law. She went there to “seek safe haven” with her kids, according to the report.

This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.

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