MANSFIELD — The case against Butler Mayor Wesley Dingus has been assigned to a retired judge from outside Richland County.
Richland County Common Pleas Court Judges Phillip Naumoff and Brent Robinson filed a judgement entry Wednesday, transferring all further proceedings to a judge to be assigned by the Supreme Court of Ohio.
The order stated there “may be concerns about a potential conflict of interest” and cited Rule 2.11 of the Code of Judicial Conduct, which requires judges to recuse themselves in any case where their impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
On Thursday, the Ohio Supreme Court assigned Mark K. Wiest, a retired judge of the Wayne County Court of Common Please, to preside over the case.
Wiest retired in 2023 after serving more than 40 years as a judge, per reporting from The Daily Record.
As of Thursday, no trial date has been set.
Dingus, 48, was indicted on four counts by a Richland County grand jury earlier this month, including aggravated assault (a fourth-degree felony), vehicular assault (a fourth-degree felony), falsification (a first degree misdemeanor) and dereliction of duty (a second-degree misdemeanor).
Dingus was arrested on a warrant on Aug. 17 and plead not guilty to all charges the following day. He was released from the Richland County Jail on a $25,000 bond, required to wear an ankle monitor and is not permitted to drive while the case plays out.
The charges stem from a July 11 incident, during which Dingus struck a man twice with his car. The man, Anthony Ward, was wanted by the Ohio Dept. of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) for a parole violation and was fleeing police during a traffic stop when Dingus ran him over.
The Bellville Police Department handled the subsequent investigation, concluding its work on July 18 and forwarding its findings to the Richland County Prosecutor’s Office.
Bellville police Chief Jon Fletcher detailed the department’s findings during a press conference on July 21.
Fletcher told reporters the department’s role was to provide an unbiased, factual report to the prosecutor’s office.
“I’m not here to determine if (Dingus) did it intentionally or unintentionally,” Fletcher said in July.
Ward was detained by law enforcement the same day — after Dingus hit him twice with his vehicle.
Ward remains incarcerated at the Lorain Correctional Institution’s medical facility as of Thursday, according to the ODRC’s online inmate search.
