Ex-mayoral candidate in Niles won’t face charges

Man was accused of trying to intimidate city’s mayor

WARREN -- A Trumbull County grand jury has declined to indict a Niles man who was accused of trying to intimidate the city's mayor, the man's one-time political rival.

George Kuriatnyk had been charged in Niles Municipal Court with intimidation, a felony and aggravated menacing, a misdemeanor. The charges were bound over to a grand jury, which announced Wednesday in a report it decided against indicting Kuriatnyk.

The charges stem from a March 20 city council meeting, where Kuriatnyk allegedly threatened Niles Mayor Steve Mientkiewicz, suggesting there would be "consequences for his actions" and Kuriatnyk saying he would "die for his family" and "take people with him," according to court documents.

At the same meeting, Kuriatnyk reportedly said that law enforcement would not be able to stop him.

Afterward, Mientkiewicz applied for and was granted a temporary protection order against Kuriatnyk.

A full civil stalking protection order was later denied by Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Magistrate Michael Harlan. In his ruling, Harlan found Mientkiewicz had not proven a consistent pattern of conduct under Ohio law that Kuriatnyk posed a threat of physical harm or mental distress to him or his family.

Mientkiewicz testified at the April 24 protection order hearing, saying, "I was fearful, taken off guard (by) the threat and again that had never happened in our previous dealings with George, so it was one of the first times that I felt threatened or fearful of some sort of physical altercation."

Councilman James Sheely, D-3rd Ward, testified he was concerned about Kuriatnyk's behavior and for the mayor's safety, so much so he asked a Niles police officer to stay for the meeting.

The allegations included threatening text messages sent by Kuriatnyk to Councilman Doug Sollitto, D-1st Ward, that dealt with taking "people out" and "eating the last bullet."

Sollitto testified the messages did not make him fear for his safety, but did raise personal concerns for Kuriatnyk.

When questioned about the messages at the hearing by the mayor's attorney, Kuriatnyk clarified his remark about "eating the last bullet," which he said referred to initiating an investigation with the Ohio Attorney General's Office, alleging adversarial actions by the mayor toward him and his family, not a threat of violence. He attributed the phrase to a line from the 1987 movie "Lethal Weapon," telling the judge that he's a movie buff.

Kuriatnyk has been a perennial candidate in Niles' political scene, running for various public offices. Most notably, Kuriatnyk challenged Mientkiewicz in the 2023 general election, where he secured 26% of the vote against Mientkiewicz's 74%. In 2019, Kuriatnyk also pursued a council at-Large seat as a write-in candidate, but was unsuccessful.