A Pike County Sheriff’s Deputy is facing serious charges after police in Hillard, Ohio say he made a terrifying threat to his fiancé.
The 37-year-old woman told Hillard Police that 27-year-old Erik Zirneskie sat down next to her on their bed, pulled her head up against his and then put a loaded gun to his own head. Zirneskie, a deputy with the Pike County Sheriff’s Office, then told her that he was going to “end it all.”
Zirneskie is also accused of pointing a loaded gun at a male victim. A 37-year-old Columbus man told police that he was visiting with Zirneski’s fiancé when Zirenski arrived home, still in uniform. Zirneski pointed his service weapon at him and threatened to shoot him.
Both incidents are alleged to have happened on December 21 and were reported to police on December 23.
When Zirneski was arrested, he had a police duty belt, a shotgun, and two Glock magazines with 30 .40 bullets in his possession. He was charged with two counts of aggravated menacing and one count of domestic violence.
Zirneski was taken to the Franklin County jail and arraigned in Franklin County Municipal Court on Christmas Eve. He filed as an indigent defendant and a public defender was appointed to represent him.
A pre-trial hearing was set for January 21 and Zirneski was released on his own recognizance after agreeing to pre-trial supervision. As a condition of the release, he promised not to contact either victim or to possess firearms.
Zirneski is the same deputy that filmed the viral video while he served court documents to suspended Pike County Sheriff, Charles Reader. This is the video of our follow up coverage on that story.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CikyzRrUDZI[/embedyt]
