“You would never hear of anyone two weeks after the incident be held to answer a suggestion like this,” Rion said. “Obviously the officer at the time at the scene did not think anything was wrong, as he told them both to go on their ways.”
Humphries, 41, allegedly approached a car driven by Tyler Anspach, 18, at around 12:36 a.m. on Dec. 1. Humphries reportedly called 911 on his cell phone, saying Anspach had been following his vehicle too closely even though he was driving between 8 mph and 14 mph.
Anspach had been calling dispatchers at the same time, reporting an apparent impaired driver ahead of him. Humphries allegedly walked toward Anspach’s vehicle while carrying a baseball bat, but stopped advancing when a Carlisle police officer arrived on scene.
Neither man was charged at the time and Rion said Humphries did not think anything of the incident until two weeks later when he received a summons.
Outside the packed courtroom, Rion called the situation “very unusual,” saying Humphries wielded a souvenir Cincinnati Reds bat in an effort to “assist officers on the scene.”
“Wouldn’t you?” Rion said. “Particularly if you’re a public official and you’re not sure if some guy is angry at the government and looking to take it out on someone.”
Humphries faces charges of obstructing official business, a fifth-degree felony, and aggravated menacing, a first-degree misdemeanor. He also was cited for prohibition against parking on highways.
The charges surfaced a month after Humphries’ city-owned computer was seized on Nov. 5 and shipped to the FBI to determine whether inappropriate material had been saved or accessed.
Rion said he does not think anything will come of that situation, as there is no way of determining who might have put the materials on the computer.
“There’s no way they will show that he put anything on it,” he said. “If the Air Force can’t keep the Iraqis off of their private networks, I’m sure people can get on other people’s computers.”
Humphries agreed to a 5:30 p.m. Jan. 12 preliminary hearing and pretrial conference with Judge Rupert Ruppert in Franklin Municipal Court.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or rgauthier@coxohio.com.
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