Felony case dismissed against Lorain man who took gun on 2023 school field trip

ELYRIA — Nearly two years after he took a concealed handgun on a Lorain High School field trip, former Lorain Schools employee Brandon Wysocki no longer is facing a criminal charge for doing so. Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Donna Freeman on Friday dismissed a felony charge of illegal conveyance or possession of a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance in a school zone against Wysocki, 39, of Lorain. She did so without prejudice at the request of the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office. And while that means that the state has the right to bring charges again before the statute of limitations runs out, "there is no intention to refile this," Chief Assistant Prosecutor Chris Pierre told Freeman. Elected Prosecutor Tony Cillo publicly promised to dismiss the case after the 9th District Court of Appeals last month upheld a 2024 ruling by former Common Pleas Judge John Miraldi suppressing evidence of the gun Lorain police found when they searched Wysocki. The Prosecutor's Office "certified that the suppression ruling has rendered its proof so weak that its effective prosecution is no longer possible," defense attorney Chris Rewak told Freeman, who inherited the case from Miraldi when she was elected last year. Wysocki "has an interest in moving on from this case," Rewak said. "This has dragged on for two years of his life. It has played out in the public eye, and he would like to move on from it." Rewak argued successfully last year that Wysocki didn't consent to be searched by police. Miraldi agreed, calling it "beyond dispute" police had no reasonable suspicion to search Wysocki. The Prosecutor's Office argued in its appeal that Wysocki consented to be searched, but Akron-based appellate judges Donna Carr, Jennifer Hensal and Scot Stevenson disagreed. Noting that his client had no intent to commit a crime nor any prior criminal record, Rewak said he and his client appreciated how quickly the Prosecutor's Office acted to dismiss the case. Wysocki on Friday said he hoped the initial incident could have been handled "discreetly and effectively without turning it into a circus." "It should have been an opportunity to look at policies and procedures for optimal safety" by the schools, Wysocki said. He also said he didn't feel like the dismissal "vindicated" his actions at all. Wysocki said he didn't want other people to look at his case and think there are zero consequences for carrying firearms. He said he hopes to get the record of the case expunged. The incident Accompanied by three police officers, Lorain school officials pulled Wysocki, then a substitute school security officer and volunteer field trip chaperone, off a Lorain High School ecology class field trip to the grounds of the former U.S. Steel plant on Sept. 22, 2023. Wysocki didn't tell anyone he had brought a handgun, ammunition, a knife and self-defense spray with him. He later said he wasn't aware having the gun on the trip was against district policy. Wysocki got off of the private bus, not a Lorain Schools bus, that took students on the trip after another employee asked him to so they could go back to Lorain High School. That was a false pretense by school officials to get Wysocki off the bus, Miraldi ruled later. A Lorain officer found the gun when he searched Wysocki before letting him sit in a police cruiser. Licensed to carry a concealed handgun, Wysocki had been a school employee for only a month when the incident happened. He resigned shortly after. Wysocki said he only took the gun on the trip to protect students in an overgrown area of the city where there are coyotes and feral dogs, among other dangers. He didn't tell anyone he was armed and never pulled the gun out before telling police he had it on him, he said. A former three-time candidate for Lorain City Council, Wysocki currently is on the city's Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals. He was an independent candidate for an at-large seat on Council at the time of the incident. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.