MIAMI COUNTY — A Rhode Island Democratic congressional candidate and former staffer for Gov. John Kasich was arrested this week in Miami County.
Michael Neary, 28, was arrested in Troy on March 23 for menacing and possession of drugs.
Neary worked on Kasich’s 2016 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, according to a report from The Providence Journal.
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Court records showed that Neary was accused of following a couple from Columbus to Troy.
Records showed that deputies were dispatched to the area of State Route 41 near State Route 201 in Elizabeth Township after a driver called 911 and reported that a vehicle had been following him and his wife since they left a Columbus airport.
The couple said he mimicked their driving patterns and flashed his lights at them while following them.
Deputies found Neary following a Gold Lexus westbound into Troy. The deputies followed and attempted to make a traffic stop, but Neary didn’t stop and continued to follow the Lexus into Troy.
Neary later came to a stop near the intersection of E. Main and N. Counts streets in Troy and at that time deputies approached his vehicle.
In court documents, deputies said Neary stepped out his vehicle and appeared to be very “nervous” and “jittery.”
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He gave deputies a Columbus address and told deputies that he had recently gotten back to Ohio after being in Rhode Island and “left home to go for a drive.” Court records detailed that Neary told deputies he was running for a “political position in the state of Rhode Island.” According to his LinkedIn page, Neary is currently running for the Democratic nomination in Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District.
Neary consented to having his vehicle searched. During the search, deputies found a clear plastic container that had bags of marijuana, a pipe and a grinder in it on the passenger front seat. A half empty bottle of whiskey was also found in the back seat, according to court documents.
The driver from the Lexus told deputies that they did not know Neary and that at one point his wife was “scared for their life.” Neary told deputies he initially thought he recognized the vehicle, but later admitted to not knowing the driver of the Lexus.
Neary was charged with menacing by stalking, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He pleaded not guilty and was released on bail, according to our CBS affiliate WPRI. Neary is due back in court in April.