A Powell man and former assistant Ohio State University receivers coach was arrested Thursday afternoon and charged with violating a protection order.
Delaware County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Andrew Lee filed a probable cause affidavit against Zachary E. Smith, 35, of Powell, Thursday alleging that on Thursday afternoon Smith violated a protection order his ex-wife, Courtney, has against him when he showed up at Scioto Ridge Elementary School and attempted to pick up their children.
Smith’s ex-wife called 9-1-1 and told dispatchers that Smith tried to take their two kids but was stopped by school staff because it was not in compliance with court orders.
“He came up behind me and tried to get into the school before I did,” Courtney Smith told dispatchers. Courtney told dispatchers that the principal of the school, Melany Ondrus, was speaking to Zachary Smith in her office and said Zachary was yelling at the principal while Courtney was in a different room.
Lee wrote that the protection order prevents Zachary from being within 500 feet of Courtney and requires that custody exchanges must happen at the Powell Police Department under camera or police supervision.
Zachary was taken into custody, taken to the Delaware County Jail and charged with violating a protection order.
He appeared in Delaware Municipal Court via video conferencing from the Delaware County Jail Friday morning where a pretrial hearing was scheduled for June 5 at 2 p.m.
He was released on a recognizance bond and ordered to comply with the protection order. He was out of the jail Friday afternoon.
Last May, Smith was arrested when he went to Courtney’s home to drop off their son, violating the protection order. He was charged with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct and eventually pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct via intoxication and was ordered to pay a $150 fine.
The university fired Smith on July 23, 2018.
Last year, the Associated Press reported that Courtney alleged that Smith shoved her against a wall and put his hands around her neck in 2015 during one of several domestic incidents. The AP reports the couple divorced in 2016.
Smith was never criminally charged with domestic violence, court records show.
In July 2018, then-Ohio State football head coach Urban Meyer initially told reporters that he was unaware of the 2015 domestic violence allegations, but he later acknowledged that he was aware of them. Since then, Meyer has stated he handled the accusations properly when he learned of them at the time.
On Aug. 22, OSU announced that Meyer had been suspended for three games for mishandling the abuse allegations.
